


By HENRY BERKOWIT?:, I>. IX 




immm 





Glass. 



LC 7/9 



Book - 6 35 



*^AftA^-%^ -^ ■ 



X. y. 



The New Education In 
Religion 



with 



Curriculum of Jewish Studies 



By Henry Berkowitz, D. D. 

Chancel/or of the Jewish 
Chautauqua Society 




The Jewish Chautauqua Society 

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA 



19 13 



IQii^ 



Copyright 1913 

by 

The Jewish Chautauqua Society 



By Traaefer 

NOV 16 '^26 



^' 



Contents 

1. The General Plan Page 7 

2. Individuality in Pupils 17 

3. Individuality in Pupils, (continued) 27 

4. Personality in Teaching 41 

5. Materials for the Instruction of 

Primary Grades 51 

6. Materials for the Instruction of 

Intermediate Grades 63 

7. Materials for the Instruction of 

Junior Grades 77 

8. Materials for the Instruction of 

Senior Grades 77 

9. Materials for the Instruction of 

High School Grades — The 

College Outlook 93 

10. The Curriculum Ill 



The General Plan 



THB NBW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION 

Lesson I. GENERAL PLAN 

The traveler into a new country is safest with a a Guide 
guide. The guide must be familiar with the ground '^^^^^^ 
to be traversed, and through his knowledge and 
experience, must command full confidence. Our 
children as they enter the Religious School are to be 
guided into a strange and untried domain. The 
teacher is the guide to whom they look with unques- 
tioning confidence in his knowledge and sincerity. 
To merit this trust and to fulfil it, is to have at once 
the greatest of responsibilities and the most joyous 
of privileges. 

That trust falls upon every parent when the The 
mysterious gift of a new life — that of a child, comes sponsibmty 
into the home, for upon the influence of the parental 
example, training and instruction, more than upon 
aught else will depend the whole future of the child's 
character, conduct and soul culture. The first school 
from Patriarchal days was the home, and the home 
still is and will ever remain the earliest and most 
important school of child-training. "A child's mind," 
said one of the Rabbis, "is like a clean tablet on 
which nothing has been written." The first records 
on that tablet are made in the home and their impress 
is indelible. Therefore, every earnest parent is eager 
to find help to be a safe and wise teacher, friend and 
guide to his child. These lessons aim to place within 
the reacli of parents the results of the study and 
experience of those who have gone over the ground 
in advance. 

7 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RBLIGION. 

The Teacher 'j^j^g school comes to supplement (never to sup- 

parent'8 plant) the home in this earnest work. The teacher 
Duty in the Religious School merely shares the parental 
duty, carrying it on into special fields for which the 
school has better equipment than the home ; and 
affording the added stimulus which comes of organ- 
ized effort and the enthusiasm of working with 
others. Frequently an added responsibility falls upon 
the school to supply the deficiences of the home when 
it fails to cultivate the religious side of the child's 
nature. The teacher may, and usually does, influ- 
ence the home for good through the agency of the 
child itself, awakening a sense of duty in parents and 
affording them practical aid in providing for the 
child's religious nurture and training. 

The teacher, then, wants a guide book, by which 
to lead the pupils who, under his care, are to travel 
the unknown land — the Study of and Training in Re- 
ligion. The effort is herewith made to provide for 
Religious teachers in Jewish Schools such a guide, 
technically called a Curriculum. 

No It must be admitted at once that, as no guide 

book ever published was final and complete, because 
in every growing land new roads are constantly being 
opened, new territory being settled and old places 
being improved, so no Curriculum of study that has 
been or may be devised can be final and complete. 
The educational ideal itself is constantly advancing; 
new principles are being revealed and old methods 
improved. What is here offered is meant to be sug- 
gestive merely, and flexible enough for adaptation 
as need requires, 

^^^trt'h Moreover, no curriculum can possibly fit every 

schTou school. The Talmud Torah (the Public Hebrew 

8 



Curriculum 
is Final 



THU NBW EDUCATION IN RBLIGION. 



School) ; Yeshibah (the Advanced or higher school) ; 
'Heder (the Private Hebrew School) ; the Hebrew 
Day School; the Congregational Sabbath or Sunday 
School; the so-called "Mission" or Free School — all 
these exist side by side. Into one or another of 
these the Jewish child enters to secure what is offered 
of training in Judaism. Each of these types of 
School has evolved a more or less definite Curricu- 
lum, in which the common aim of rearing the child 
in the love of Judaism, to a moral and religious life, 
has been attained by diverse methods and with vary- 
ing degrees of success. 

It is essential that the Jewish Schools of the 
present day carry forward the best traditions of the 
past. They should be permeated with the conscious- 
ness of the inspiring fact that Israel has from the first 
and uninterruptedly down to the present, continued 
to be an educating people; making important contri- 
butions of permanent worth to the development of 
educational endeavor. Of all this, but scant notice 
is taken in the works devoted to telling "The History 
of Education." On this account and in order to 
sustain and strengthen the Religious Teacher with a 
sense of the historic task in which he has a share as a 
guide of youth, the Curriculum here outlined ofifers 
as a basic course, that which gives an "Historical 
Survey of Je wish Education." (See Curriculum 
p. 124). 

The effort to apply the principles and practices 
of Jewish education, evolved in the past, to our pres- 
ent needs brings us face to face with the fact that all 
our schools, of whatever type, are facing a crisis. 
They are confronted alike by the critical change 
which has come over the whole educational world. 



Knowledge of 
the Past 
Essential 



Present Crisis in 
Education 



THB NBW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

Heretofore the Curriculum has concerned itself pri- 
marily and mainly with the materials of instruction. 
The revelations of modern psychology, the demon- 
strations of physiology, and the whole range of sci- 
entific data unknown before and now our common 
possession, have created the "new education," By 
it emphasis is laid primarily and mainly on the child 
or rather the Pupil, his individuality, capabilities and 
needs. On the basis of a clear insight into these 
needs, emphasis is laid in the second place on the 
personality of the Teacher, his equipment for his tasks 
and the methods he is to employ. Finally, consider- 
ation is given to the Lesson, i. e., the proper selec- 
tion of the material of instruction to be put into the 
hands of the teacher, with distinct reference to its 
applicability to the capabilities of the pupil at each 
stage of his development. The end to be attained is 
the development of character based on a deep love of 
the ideals and principles of our religion. 
The New All this has a direct and most important bearing 

Education in qu the highly Specialized work of the Religious 
Religion Schools. There is a strong line of differentiation 
between Secular and Religious Schools. This is 
emphasized by the American principle of the abso- 
lute separation of Church and State. In Secular 
Schools all instruction in matters of religious 
belief and all forms of religious practices must 
be rigidly excluded in deference to the great 
principle of religious freedom and the rights of con- 
science. While all schools must be moral and train 
in moral conduct, it is the distinct province of the 
ReHgious Schools to teach those sanctions of moral- 
ity and grounds of obligation which are above 
mere utility. It is the function of the Religious 
School to apply what the Secular School may not 

10 



THE NEW BDU CATION IN RELIGION. 

and must not touch upon, and that is, the authority 
which makes moraHty mandatory. This authority is 
differently defined by different Religions. The defi- 
nitions are variously interpreted within the schools 
of one and the same religion. But whether it be a 
system of transcendental philosophy, the "categoric 
imperative" of duty, or a divine revelation however 
literally or broadly accepted — some definite binding 
authority as the source of obligation must be carried 
home with conviction to the mind and heart of the 
pupil. The solemn sanctities that seize upon the 
soul and constrain its impulses toward right action 
must be effectively utilized, if we would create pure, 
reverent, self-sacrificing character. 

Judaism has its own methods of attaining this 
end. It has its own simple and effective doctrines ; ^^^ Jewish 
its own sanctified expressions of the religious senti- 
ments, convictions and ideals through which it 
touches the souls of its devotees. The Jewish School 
is distinct from the schools of other reUgions in 
using these Jewish methods of awakening and deep- 
ening the religious life. The Curriculum, therefore, 
calls for imparting the Jewish sanctions of morality 
and modes of cultivating the religious sentiment. It 
should aim to strengthen the consciousness through 
the hallowed observances, which are the creation of the 
Jewish spirit. Each school must apply these in con- 
formity with its own standpoint. 

The Curriculum here offered aims to be service- 
able to all our schools. The Biblical, Rabbinical and 
critical views on mooted questions are noted, for the 
benefit of students, but the effort is made to keep 
the presentation free from doctrinal bias and to 
accord full freedom of interpretation to the class- 
room teacher. As a guide should be familiar with 

11 



THB NEW EDUCATION IN RBLIGION. 

the various routes and follow the one he deems safest 
and best, so the teacher should be familiar with the 
various schools of thought in our Religion — the so- 
called Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Radical 
However, it is of supreme importance that he recog- 
nize not merely differences and what he may deem 
errors, but rather that deep in the heart of each of 
these schools of thought, lies the striving after the same 
goal ; which is to know, to love and to live Judaism. 

On the basis of this preliminary understanding, this 
study in the Curriculum of the Religious School 
requires a more detailed consideration of the three 
essential factors that make a school : I. The Child. 
II. The Teacher. III. The Book or materials of 
instruction. 

RESUME 

The value of a guide in the field of Religious 
Education is set forth both for the parent and for 
the teacher who assumes the place and duty of the 
parent. The guide or Curriculum is necessarily ten- 
tative since education is never final. 

This effort to provide a working plan takes cog- 
nizance of the various kinds of Jewish Schools. All 
alike are the outcome of the same great past. The 
Jews have been an educating people unceasingly from 
the beginning of their history to the present. The 
teacher of today, to understand and realize fully the 
privilege of sharing in the development of the tra- 
ditions of the Jewish Schools, should study the "Sur- 
vey of Jewish Education" provided in this course. 
It will be seen that all our schools face a crisis in the 
present, due to the change which has come over the 
whole educational world. The new knowledge of our 
era of science and especially the researches of psychol- 

12 



THE NBW BDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

ogy have created the New Education. Our effort is to 
apply the advantages of the New Education to Re- 
ligious instruction and training. 

The triumphant principle of Religious freedom, 
insured through the separation of Church and State, 
makes imperative the special school for Religious 
training. The sanctions of morality which have their 
foundations in Religion are to be imparted by each 
Religious denomination in accordance with its own 
convictions and practices. The Jewish Schools have 
their distinct modes of impressing moral obligations 
through teaching Judaism. However they may differ 
in matters of interpretation and of ceremonial all 
cherish the same purpose. 



QUESTION 

1. What part should the parent take in the religious 

education of the child? 

2. What are the reciprocal relations between parent 

and teacher? 

3. Why is the Curriculum needed in each school? 

4. Why is no Curriculum final ? 

5. What are the types of Jewish schools? 

6. Why is a knowledge of "The History of Jewish 

Education" important? 

7. What is meant by the present crisis in education, 

and how does it affect the teaching of re- 
ligion ? 

13 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

8. State some agreements and differences between 

the Secular and Religious Schools. Illus- 
trate by citing some agreements and differ- 
ences in methods of imparting moral instruc- 
tion. 

9. What characterizes a Jewish School as different 

from other Religious Schools? 

10. What points of agreement exist for teachers in the 
various kinds of Jewish Schools? How are 
the differences to be treated by the class-room 
teacher ? 



14 



Individuality in Pupils 



15 



Sacred 
Possession 



THE NBW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 



Lesson II. INDIVIDUALITY IN PUPILS 

Our most sacred possession is what is termed our our'Most 
personality. In body, mind and soul each person is 
distinct. Each has his own gifts and also his marked 
limitations. The problem of the teacher is to search 
out these gifts and cultivate them to the highest ad- 
vantage of the individual pupil. In this effort, in order 
to evade waste and to insure the best results, it is also 
highly necessary to recognize the limitations and defi- 
ciencies of the pupil. The failure of parents and 
teachers to pay heed to these distinct elements in the 
nature of each child is the source of most educational 
blunders. Children are handled in the mass. In many 
homes but little attention is paid to the differences in 
children. They are all treated alike ; made to conform 
to the same directions; subjected to identical modes 
of discipline and to like experimentation. 

In the school the gravest crimes are sometimes 
committed by teachers against the sacred rights of the 
pupil to his own individuality. The school is planned 
to meet the needs of an imaginary being called "the 
average pupil." Those above the average are leveled 
down, those below are "whipped up" or dropped. The 
same treatment is accorded to all; the same tests, ex- 
aminations and requirements are insisted upon irre- 
spective of and often despite the rights and the cry- 
ing needs of the individuals. The school is too often 
a huge machine whose output, like that of a nail fac- 
tory, is measured and weighed by one common stand- 
ard. (See "An Ideal School," by Preston W. Search, 
International Educational Series, Appleton & Co., N. 
Y., 1901). 

17 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 



How to 
Safe-Guard 
Individu- 
ality 



Physical 
Basis of 
Individu- 
ality 



Happily, however, it is the tendency of modern 
educators to value and promote pupils on the basis 
of effort made rather than on the basis of success in 
the mastery of studies. This endeavor is responsible 
for the creation of different kinds of classes to meet 
specific needs of children, e.g., "opportunity classes" 
for the specially apt; "regular classes" for the normal 
pupil ; "ungraded classes" for the backward and defec- 
tive pupils ; "disciplinary classes" for incorrigibles and 
the delinquents, etc. All these reckon with the various 
elements entering into the child's personality. 

It might seem that the pupil who is fortunate 
enough to be trained solely by parents and private in- 
structors would thereby secure the great advantage of 
an education fitted to his special needs and with due 
regard to his personal claims. No doubt this is largely 
the case. On the other hand, it is evident that the 
pupil who is reared apart from the associations, the 
stimulus and conflicts of the school and the classroom, 
is denied opportunities of the utmost value in the prep- 
aration for real life. His is, therefore, a limited, if not 
a perverted and false education. The combination of 
the two methods, the co-operation of the home and the 
school, yields the best results. This is true, however, 
only when both home and school are moved by real so- 
licitude for the rights of the child to its own self-devel- 
opment. 

The ancient Greeks gave to the world as the watch- 
word of education, "Gnothi sauton," — "Know thyself !" 
(Inscription on the Delphic Temple). Self-knowledge 
was the basis, and self-development the cap-stone of 
their system. To rear a race of strong and beautiful 
men and women was their ideal. Since the eighteenth 
century, when Rousseau called the world's attention 

18 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

to the admonitions of nature as a guide in the educa- 
tion of the race, the old Greek precept has been most 
deeply impressed on the modern world. The followers 
of Herbert Spencer have assiduously and successfully 
urged practical attention to the care of the body as the 
foundation of all training. Most recent days have seen 
the school supplement and often guide the home in 
looking into the most intimate personal care of the 
pupil. The physician makes his daily visit to the 
school ; the visiting nurse is at command ; school lunch- 
eons are provided; gymnastics and baths prescribed; 
care of the teeth and eyes investigated. All these con- 
stitute part of that "new thought" in education which 
demands sanitation, ventilation, proper lighting, heat- 
ing and every other provision for the physical wel- 
fare of the pupil, as the primary necessity of educa- 
tion. Perhaps one-third of the pupils in our schools 
who were hitherto termed stupid^ feebleminded or 
otherwise defective have, through individual attention, 
been discovered to be merely suffering with adenoids, or 
the need of spectacles, or proper nourishment. Too 
much emphasis cannot be laid on adequate care of the 
health and comfort of each child, and a sacred regard 
for the physical condition of each individual. Without 
this all further educational effort is defeated. 

Our religious schools, relegated often to dingy 
vestry rooms and gloomy basements, are criminally 
negligent and far behind the secular schools in this 
respect. As a parent or teacher you are therefore 
charged with the responsibility of securing the proper 
physical conditions as the first requisite in the organi- 
zation and conduct of the Religious School. No effort 
should be spared in educating the officers of School 
Boards to see the value and fitness of expending funds 
for this end. 

19 



THB NEW EDUCATION IN RBLIGION. 

Mental Traits -pj^g Greek principle of self-knowledge was ex- 

tended by the Romans. They taught the important 
precept of "A sound mind in a sound body," — Mens 
sana in corpore sano. (Juvenal, Satire, X: 356.) Ex- 
ternal strength and beauty should be an index to men- 
tal poise and culture. The charge is sometimes made 
that too much emphasis is now being placed on the 
physical basis of education — through school athletics, 
long vacations or periods of idleness, and the like. This 
criticism arises out of a failure to realize the far-reach- 
ing value of play not merely as a physical but as a 
mental and moral discipline. It must be confessed, 
however, that we have not yet made adequate efforts 
to attend to the individual mental needs and traits of 
the pupil. 

Just as the development of the body requires in- 
telligent adaptation of food to suit each age, — "milk 
for babes and meat for men," — so, too, does the men- 
tal development of the pupil call for careful discrim- 
ination on the part of the school and the teacher. "The 
voice of God on Mount Sinai," says the Midrash, 
"adapted itself to the intellect of old and young, — 
men, women and children." It was in accordance with 
this statement that the Rabbis adapted their language 
to the needs of the less educated classes. (Shechter, 
"The Child in Jewish Literature." Studies in Judaism, 
I., p. 309.) 

To this difficult and delicate task of adjusting in- 
struction to the needs of the pupil, the best efforts of 
modern psychological pedagogy are at present being 
directed. It studies the child as an individual, to mark 
his capacities, traits and needs. Knowing these, it 
aims to select the material most readily assimilated by 
the mind at each period of development in order to 
build up and strengthen the faculties. 

30 



TUB NEW BDUCATiON IN RELIGION. 

Thus we have now so clearly defined the differ- 
ences between the mental capabilities of children that 
separate classes and distinct methods of instruction are 
provided to meet the specific nepds of children, as 
enumerated above (page i8). As we said, in measur- 
ing the progress of pupils thus differentiated, the best 
educators now value the effort made by the individual 
rather than the success he has attained. It is not merit, 
but good fortune for a child to have, e.g., the natural 
gift of an alert and retentive memory; yet he is re- 
warded for his possession of an endowment which 
relieves him of effort. On the other hand, it is no de- 
merit, but a lack of good fortune for the child who has 
been denied this natural gift. Yet the marking system 
while aiming to stimulate often discourages by punish- 
ing him for this defect. Attention should be given by 
the teacher rather to the personal effort, zeal, care and 
determination of the pupil, as a true basis of judgment 
and encouragement. 

The secular schools have advanced far ahead of 
the religious schools in all these matters referring to 
the grading of the materials of study in order to fit 
the class age of the pupils. (See "Mental Develop- 
ment of the Child," by W. Preyer, Inter. Educ. Series, 
Appleton & Co., N. Y.) These lessons of the Corre- 
spondence School are in fact the first comprehensive 
attempt to systematize individual effort of this kind, 
made heretofore, in religious schools. The modernized 
religious schools among the Jewish people are all 
graded, with more or less definiteness of plan ; where- 
as the non-Jewish schools, hitherto hampered by the 
"International Sunday School Lessons," are but now 
adopting the graded lesson plan. (See "The Graded 
Sunday School," by H. H. Meyer, Pilgrim Press, Bos- 
ton.) A plan of grading the classes in Jewish schools 

31 



THB NEW BDU CATION IN RELIGION. 



will be set forth in future Lessons of this Course. 

As a student of the Correspondence School you 
are urged to co-operate by writing to the Instructors 
who have charge of the various Courses giving the re- 
sults of your experience in teaching. You are asked to 
report on the value of this material for instruction in 
each grade, on each topic, and whether or not you find 
it adaptable in detail to the pupils of the age to which 
it is assigned. Furthermore, as a teacher in a relig- 
ious school, you are urged to give every possible atten- 
tion before, after and during class hours to the indi- 
vidual traits of pupils under your charge in order to do 
full justice to each child. In this effort seek the per- 
sonal co-operation of parents and of the members of 
the pupils' home circle. Your visit to the home for 
this purpose will be most effective and may inure to 
the life-lasting benefit of your pupil. 

RESUME 

The source of most educational blunders is found 
to lie in our failure to pay heed to the individuality 
of each pupil. This is true alike of the home and the 
school. Their co-operation is imperative to insure to 
each pupil due consideration for his most sacred rights 
— those of his own personality. 

The Greek ideal of education, "Self-knowledge," 
has recently found wide application through the care 
bestowed on the health and comfort of the pupil. This 
has controlled the architecture and equipment of 
school buildings, and the appliances of the classrooms. 
Religious Schools are still largely deficient in these 
matters. 

The Roman ideal of education calls for "a healthy 
mind in a healthy body." The adaptation of the mate- 

22 



THB NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

rials of study, to supply the proper mental food for 
each period of the pupil's developrrient, is the leading 
interest of the modern studies of psychology and 
pedagogy. To aid in the solution of this problem for 
religious instruction is the purpose of these Lessons of 
the Correspondence School. 

QUESTIONS 

1. In the new education "effort" rather than 
"success" is valued in pupils. Why ? 

2. What are the relative advantages of "private 
tuition" and of "class instruction?" 

3. What is the modern attitude towards the 
Greek ideal of education? 

4. What is the modern attitude towards the 
Roman ideal of education ? 

5. If you were about to organize a religious 
school or to reorganize one, what demands would you 
make of the School Board? Why? 



23 



Individuality in Pupils— 11 



as 



THB NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 



Lesson III. INDIVIDUALITY IN PUPILS 

( Continued ) 

It is of supreme importance to remember that to Moral Training 
impart information and to train the mind are not the supreme 
main objects of the ReHgious School. These are but 
the means to a higher end, viz., the formation of char- 
acter. A pupil may lead the class in knowledge, being 
gifted with aptness and a good memory, yet may rank 
far below others in conduct. If it be essential in order 
to attain self-knowledge, to develop "a sound mind in 
a sound body" it is vastly more important to learn 
self-control and develop a good character. This su- 
preme dictum of education is contributed by the Jewish 
Schools. They formulated such a watchword as that 
of the inquiry : Ese hu gibbor, "Who is a strong man ?" 
— Hakovesh es-yitsro, "He that rules his nature." 
(Ethics of the Fathers, IV: i.) This is based on the 
Biblical saying, "He that is slow to anger is better 
than the mighty ; and he that ruleth over his spirit than 
he that taketh a city." (Proverbs xvi: 32.) 

The ancient Hebrews gave character the superior 
place while paying due regard to both body and mind 
in the dietary, hygienic and numerous other admoni- 
tions found in the Books of Moses, 

Now, there is no such thing as aggregate moral Moral Training 
training. To be really effective it must be individual. Must Be 
Each individual has his own distinct moral tendencies i"dmduai 
and qualities, from the degenerate, of stunted moral 
perceptions to the moral genius, whose intuitive grasp 
of the right and wrong is extraordinary. Each comes 
into the world with a moral heritage, and every day 
and hour is adding to his possessions, good or evil, 
from his surroundings and experiences. The first five 

27 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RBLIGION. 

or six years of the child's life are most decisive in 
determining his moral nature. It is the most impres- 
sionable period of his life. Alas, for the child de- 
prived during that period of its mother, and woe to the 
mother who then neglects her child ! Sickness, pov- 
erty, death may come to separate mother and child. 
Orphanages, day nurseries, shelters, and kindergar- 
tens may then help to supply the need. However, they 
can yield, at best, but a counterfeit of the real training 
the child should have at mother's knee and by father's 
side, within the home. 

peraonai Purity It is in reference to the personal side of moral 

training that the New Education differs most from the 
old. In the old system it was deemed wisest to shun 
altogether or at best to permit only veiled and indirect 
reference before the young to matters of personal 
purity and of sex relations. The whole subject was 
taboo in the home and rigidly excluded from all con- 
versation. The school was as silent as the tomb on 
this subject. This secrecy created an utterly false atti- 
tude of mind towards the most vital and serious of all 
human concerns. A false sense of shame surrounded 
the most sacred of all earthly relationships. Birth, 
motherhood and marriage became the staple of vulgar 
jests and base and ignoble thoughts among all classes 
of people — not merely among the coarse and ignorant. 

The New Knowledge of our day has revealed the 
grave dangers to which the old system has exposed 
the young. The break-down of health and character 
so frequent in the period of adolescence, when tempta- 
tions assail, has opened the eyes of those responsible 
for the right rearing of the next generation to a clari- 
fied vision of duty in this matter. Therefore the new 
education lays emphasis on the need of properly forti- 

88 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

fying youth against these grave dangers. How to do 
this in a sane, wise and effectual way is the question 
which is now agitating the whole educational world. 
All are agreed that the attitude of mind must be 
changed from one of disrespect to one of deep rever- 
ence towards the facts of personality and those most 
sacred responsibilites and privileges which attend the 
exercise of the functions by which men and women 
share in the divine mystery of life's creation. 

There is definite agreement on all sides that the Must be Taught 
home is, above all, the place, and the parent the proper "» *•>« Home, 
person to impart to the child the lessons of personal 
purity. The daily intimacies which exist from in- 
fancy through childhood, and the spirit of true under- 
standing and ready sympathy which grow up in every 
real home between mother and daughter, and between 
father and son, these provide the natural conditions 
of confidence and reverence essential to the fulfilment 
of this important duty. Within the sacred precincts 
of the home and in moments of the most natural con- 
fidence and tenderness, a true mother will enlighten 
her daughter, a true father will guide and instruct his 
son. 

But here we confront the grave fact that most 
parents are unfit to teach their children about these 
serious subjects. The majority are too ignorant and 
are lacking in the tact and delicacy needed. Even the 
most intelligent and cultured parents feel a sense of 
shamefacedness and helplessness when confronted with 
the duty of speaking plainly to their boys and girls. 
This is due entirely to the failure of the old education 
to train them for the duties of parenthood. Whatever 
knowledge was acquired came from street companions, 
ignorant nurses or forbidden books. The task of the 

29 



THB NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

present is primarily to educate the parents and to fit 
them to instruct their children aright. For this pur- 
pose literature is now being rapidly created addressed 
specifically to parents. Reading clubs of all kinds are 
taking up these books. Lectures on "What Parents 
Should Tell Their Children, and How" are being held. 
Public schools, churches, social settlements, neighbor- 
hood clubs and the like are engaged in this great task 
of helping parents, that they may intelligently bring 
up a generation which shall have the moral equipment 
to safeguard its own purity and make wiser provision 
in turn for the generation that shall follow. 

What the Schools There is much discussion at present of the part 

Can Do ^^ ^^ taken in sex education by the schools. Through 
instruction in biology and the analogies with the mar- 
vels of reproduction in plants, fishes, birds and mam- 
mals, the whole topic is dignified, and exalted to a 
higher plane. There are other truths besides the bio- 
logical to be taught, such as the hygienic laws, to in- 
struct in matters of. personal health and cleanliness. 
There is also the social aspect of the problem, touch- 
ing our relations with other people and the far-reaching 
effect of all these matters in the present and future, 
both as to the dangers of disease and the value of a 
clean and vigorous life in the community. 

Most of all the ethical phases of this subject must 
be clearly and fully imparted. Here the religious 
school is called upon to take a more sincere part than 
it has done in this serious educational work. The 
Bible is full of ordinances on personal purity. The 
seventh commandment is the corner-stone of the home. 
The Levitical laws are not all obsolete. The catas- 
trophe of Sodom and Gomorra has lost none of its 
power of warning to our cities. The denunciations of 

30 



THE NEW BDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

the Prophets against the Baalim and the evil prac- 
tices connected with idolatry, are not dead texts. In 
the various courses of the Correspondence School the 
proper use of this material is indicated. 

However, at best, neither the secular nor the relig- 
ious school is able to treat this subject with that clear- 
ness and directness which is necessary to make it effec- 
tual. It is after all a personal question and needs the 
personal word and influence for guidance. 

Little, if anything, can be said in the classroom 
of more than a general nature. Possibly the instructor 
in gymnastics who comes into close personal relations 
with individual pupils, may find opportunity to culti- 
vate the confidence and secure the right atmosphere 
and conditions to impart wholesome instruction and 
wise direction. 

The teacher in the religious school, however, is 
obliged to presume on the parental duty in this matter 
having been fulfilled. He can merely discuss the sev- 
enth commandment and kindred ordinances from such 
high grounds as fidelity to the home duties, loyalty to 
the pledges of the sacred covenant of marriage, chiv- 
alry inspired by the gentleness and purity of the woman 
or girl leading to acts of honor and nobility in the man 
and the boy. 

By the time the child has become your pupil at The Teacher's 
school, the most plastic period of his life is passed. chiiV-'^p^t 
The teacher is no longer dealing with the unformed sonai Training 
material. Strong impressions have already been made, 
for good or for evil, upon the child's character. His 
inherent moral traits and impulses have been either 
guided or misguided. How grave and difficult then 
is the task assigned to the teacher in the limited time 
at his command, and with the overcrowded classes he 

31 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

is usually expected to control. None the less, is it 
your primary duty to individualize your pupils and 
seek to apply to each one, at the critical moment, the 
moral stimulus or restraint each special case may need. 
Otherwise moral training, because it fails in individual 
application is devoid of directness and barren of last- 
ing effect. This is the teacher's greatest privilege, 
but also his gravest responsibility. In seeking to over- 
come in the child the injurious effects of some defect, 
error or mistake in the home training, the teacher 
devoid of judgment or tact may cause a more serious 
injury by breaking down the respect of the child for the 
parent. "He that curses his father or mother shall 
be put to death." (Leviticus xx: 9.) To this the 
Rabbis add by way of commentary, "Even he that 
thinketh ill of them." (See "Duties to Parents" Cor- 
respondence School Course in Jewish Ethics, Lesson 
II, by Julia Richman.) 

The wiu and The Will develops far more rapidly than does the 

Mwai Training Reason. Temper runs away with sense ; Passion leads 
to vice, wantonly and ignorantly. Sometimes a 
teacher complains that a pupil is headstrong and stub- 
born, and he forms a determination to "break the 
child's will." No more cruel and fatal method of 
moral training can be followed. The brutal subjection 
of the child's will to that of the adult, enforced through 
the exercise of superior strength, and often by inflict- 
ing physical pain, is the first recourse of the thought- 
less and incompetent. To enforce "blind obedience" 
is not the way to cure the blindness that refuses obedi- 
ence. The child of a strong will becomes a strong man 
when his will is guided and developed aright. The 
child of a weak will is easily swayed and misled. He 
needs the intelligent fostering and strengthening of 

32 



THE NBW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 



his will. Patient and untiring watchfulness is needed. 
No two cases are alike. We ourselves are being 
trained and developed mightily, in the effort to teach 
others the supreme lesson of self-control. 

Remember that the ultimate work of the religious 
school lies not in administering external compulsions, 
not in bringing your pupil under the control of out- 
ward authority, but in winning his assent to, and sus- 
taining him in the mastery over himself. 

You will naturally ask, "How am I to win his 
assent when he is rebellious?" 

I. Try the appeal to "common-sense." Calmly 
made, it is but the demand that Reason shall rule Pas- 
sion. To the appeal of "common sense" neither adult 
nor child will long refuse to be amenable. Long- 
drawn argument is rarely effective. It but feeds re- 
sentment and once on the defensive how few of us 
know how to acknowledge our defeat. Therefore a 
simple, direct thrust is most effective. If possible let 
the shaft of your logic rather be tipped with humor 
than barbed with bitterness. A genial nature and a 
sense of humor saves many a desperate situation. 

II. Try the appeal to "honor." It touches the 
most sensitive roots of all morality. It is the speediest 
call to conscience. There is a responsive thrill within 
even the most callous, to that summons. Why? Be- 
cause it recognizes beneath every evil the good con- 
cealed within. Call out the good in your pupil and 
help him make it assertive and dominant. To do this 
is to reveal the divine quality which lies, however deep, 
within every nature. We parents and teachers fail 
too often to win our unruly boys and girls to self- 
mastery, because we fail to make them realize 

33 



Common Sense 



Honor 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RBLIGION. 

with sufficient clearness that to choose to exer- 
cise their freedom of will is to use the noblest 
gift with which the Creator has endowed them. 
There is a mighty moral impulse, too little used, 
in the precept "Noblesse Oblige," — "the noble gift 
must be nobly used." In other words, the sense of 
moral responsibility is our most sacred individual en- 
dowment. By the use of our free will we exercise 
our most God-like quality. Let us use it with this 
sublime conviction shining through our decision, and 
the influence on the pupil is sure to be effective. A 
noble example is quick to incite to worthy imitation. 
The teacher, like the parent, stands to the pupil as 
representative of God Himself. The most advanced 
methods of moral training are in full accord with the 
ancient injunction of that great Jewish teacher, Rabban 
Gamaliel. He used to say, "Do His (God's) will as 
if it were thy will, that He may do thy will as if it 
were His will." (Ethics of the Fathers, 11:4.) Seek 
to apply this exalted precept in your dealings with 
your pupil. Your firm ruling, transparent in its fair- 
ness, will constrain the pupil to conform his will to 
yours. 

Shame m. When the appeal to "common-sense" and 

the appeal to "Honor" both fail — what then? There 
is a last resort — one too often used first instead of 
last. It is the appeal to "the sense of shame." The 
child that remains obdurate must be made to feel deeply 
ashamed of his reprehensible conduct. He must be 
moved by this moral force until he is led to remorse. 
The full and final effect of such a course must be 
clearly set before him as a warning. He must be 
made vividly conscious of how his parents, his teach- 
ers, his classmates, his relatives, his friends, will suffer 

34 



THE NBW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

by his being put to shame; but most of all how his 
own self-respect will be made to fall. If this warn- 
ing is of no avail, nothing remains but to put into 
effect the threat. This may be done by denying the 
pupil the favor and privileges of the classroom or of 
the school, for a time, until he relents. The parent 
must be summoned to the school and his co-operation . 
required in evading recourse to the extremest meas- 
ures. 

The writer is opposed to the expulsion of a pupil 
from the Religious School. It is for the reclamation 
of the worst, as well as the culture of the best pupil 
that the Religious School must work. Expulsion 
means surrender. That surrender must not be made 
as long as there is the slightest possibility of forfend- 
ing the appeal to the Juvenile Court and the Reforma- 
tory. 

The day when a child was first brought to school The Heart 
was, of old, made an occasion of great rejoicing. A of achiw 
pretty little ceremony sometimes took place. The lad 
tasted the sweets of instruction literally, by eating 
cakes inscribed with Hebrew texts. The good angels 
were invoked, that his mind might prove retentive and 
that he be given an open heart. (Israel Abraham's 
"Jewish life in the Middle Ages," p. 348.) The heart 
of the child, as well as its body and its mind, was thus 
commended to the watchful charge of the teacher. The 
three special functions which modern psychologists 
ascribe to the mind — knowing, willing and feeling, are 
attributed by the Biblical writers to the heart. This 
doctrine finds its chief expression in the mandate : 
"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are 
the issues of life." (Proverbs iv: 23.) Love and 
hatred, fear and trust, joy and sorrow, pride and 

35 



THB NBW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

shame, reverence and remorse, and all kindred elements 
have their seat and centre in the human heart. 

That God requires "the service of the heart" is 
the insistent urging of the Prophets and the Rabbis. 
"The whole heart," i. e., perfect sincerity, is the essen- 
tial of an upright character. This is the burden of 
every presentation of systems of Jewish Ethics ; from 
the first (Hobot ha Lebabot. "Duties of the Heart" 
by Bachya, about 1040 Common Era), to the latest 
("The Ethics of Judaism," M. Lazarus, 1911). 

If the mind of the child, as the Rabbis say, is like 
a tablet on which nothing has been written, assuredly 
the heart of a child may be likened to a sensitive in- 
strument untouched by the hand of the musician. 
How deftly, then, must the teacher touch these heart- 
strings lest discord be produced instead of harmonies, 
to form the keynotes of a life. The proper care of 
the body, the wise instruction of the mind, the solicit- 
ous training of the moral nature, must indeed proceed 
with due regard for the needs of the individual. Most 
of all, however, does the personality of the pupil ex- 
press itself through the emotions of his heart. How 
blindly we often override these delicate sentiments. 
How often a pupil is ruthlessly shamed before his 
classmates, his feelings wounded and the stinging 
wrong burned in forever upon his nature, only to pro- 
voke resentment with all its train of evils ! How often 
the private personal rights of a pupil are thoughtlessly 
invaded, his sense of justice outraged ! The delicacy, 
modesty and purity of a child's heart is sometimes 
lightly sullied and destroyed by lack of sense and feel- 
ing. To rob a pupil of his self-respect is fatal to all 
education. Higher than self-knowledge is self-control, 
but highest of all is self-reverence. 

36 



THB NBW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

It is in those qualities of the heart which we rev- 
erence as the "divine image" that the sources of the 
spiritual life arise. That teacher alone succeeds in 
making his pupil govern the heart whence come the 
issues of life, who enables his pupils to pass safely 
out of the child-world of credulity into the hard world 
of realities, without losing the beautiful faith and 
idealism which gives to life its real value and charm. 
Such a teacher earns not alone the everlasting grati- 
tude of his pupil, but also the consciousness of an inner 
blessing which is exceeded by no other earthly satis- 
faction. To win that crown we must cultivate to the 
highest the elements of Personality in Teaching. 

RESUME 

The contributions of the Jewish schools towards 
the ideal of education has from the first laid emphasis 
on the development of moral character. There is no 
such thing as aggregate training in morals. The indi- 
vidual's moral traits, tendencies and needs demand 
scrupulous cultivation from infancy throughout life. 
The new education differs from the old in requiring 
parents to instruct their children on the intimate sub- 
jects of personal purity. The share of the school in 
this task and the teacher's part in the personal moral 
training of the pupil are indicated. 

In this effort the training of the will is the lead- 
ing factor. The modes of accomplishing this are as 
diverse as are the individuals. An analysis of various 
modes of appeal to child nature is presented. 

The heart of a child is the seat and source of 
those spiritual forces which are all-controlling in the 
estabHshment of character. Sincerity or "the service 
of the heart" is the all-pervading element of a truly 
religious life. 

37 



THB NEW BDU CATION IN RELIGION. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Give the maxims in which are crystallized the 
most significant contributions made to the ideals of 
education by the Greeks, the Romans, the Jews. State 
their relative importance. 

2. Explain the statement: "Moral training to be 
effective must be individual?" 

3. What is the great difference between the old 
and the new education in reference to instruction in 
matters of personal purity? 

4. Give your views on the use of corporal pun- 
ishment in the Religious School. 

5. Why is "breaking the child's will" condemned, 
and what modes of treating obstinacy are commended ? 

6. How would you treat a case of moral delin- 
quency such as lying or pilfering, discovered in the 
classroom ? 

7. What aim is to be kept in view in the cultiva- 
tion of the individualism of the pupil? 

8. Which do you regard as easier, the teaching 
of a class of mediocre children or one having pupils 
of marked individuality? Why? 



38 



Personality in Teaching 



39 



THB NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 



Lesson IV. PERSONALITY IN TEACHING 

"The whole world depends on the breath of the 
school children," said our sages. But the inner life 
and soul of the child depends largely upon the teacher. 
In its most intense application this truth refers to the 
teacher not of manual training, technical skill or intel- 
lectual culture, but to the teacher of religion. While 
each of the former fits the pupil for a useful vocation, 
the latter aims specially to mould character and culti- 
vate the soul-life whose excellencies are eternal. The 
functions of all teachers are identical in the aims and 
methods of imparting knowledge and often fuse in the 
sphere of moral training, but to the teacher in the 
Religious School, in co-operation with the parent, is 
specifically intrusted that most exalted and most noble 
of all human privileges, — to cultivate those virtues of 
which the Rabbins have said : "The fruitage is enjoyed 
here while the stalk remains forever." 

How shall the teacher in a religious school meet 
and fulfill his grave responsibility? 

The ready reply is : By teaching the Bible, the 
world's greatest text-book of morals and religion. 
This is, indeed, the method of the Jewish school, whose 
motto is, "Talmud Torah keneged kullom" "Of all 
obligations, the study of the Torah is the chief." No 
other people have elevated study to so high a plane as 
have the Jewish people. The great universal system 
of Bible reading in our synagogues is an offering of 
the intellect in the service of the Divine. "Ain Am^ 
haaretz chasid," "No ignoramus can be truly pious," 
is the proverbial maxim of the people. 

41 



The Religious 
Teacher '6 Noble 
Task 



The Bible 
His Chief Aid 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

Religion Inter- Xhc teaching of the Bible is unquestionably of 

^"^^^fu T!?*^"^^^ the first importance. However, the voice of experi- 

the Mind of J^ ' i i • , , , 

the Teacher ence warns US and the modern psychological school 
of pedagogy insists, that as a mere intellectual exercise 
this is in itself inadequate. After your pupils have 
learned all about the Bible, its language, history and 
literature; its texts of wisdom; the lyrics of its psalm- 
ists and the eloquence of its prophets; nay, though 
they master the whole continuous output of our great 
historical literature inspired by the Bible, it does not 
follow that they will have in their hearts the sure 
restraints of morality, the glad compulsions of duty 
and the reverent qualities of soulfulness. Something 
more than knowledge is necessary. This something 
more is the subtle essence of the personality of the 
teacher, through which the knowledge is conveyed. 
Through the teaching of the Bible your personality 
must shine with such a glowing radiance as to illume 
the very soul of the child. You must show it by what 
you are and what you do that the precepts you teach 
are your own. Show that you thoroughly hate what 
is false and love what is true, and you will vitalize 
the Bible teaching, even on its intellectual side ; you 
will make your pupils abhor the false and lead them so 
to love the truth that through you they receive the 
intense conviction and subhme revelation that God is 
Truth. 

Through the You wish to tcach definite moral precepts. You 

Conscience^ of are to quicken the consciences of your pupils and make 
them ever responsive to the call of duty. You may 
have children glibly recite the Ten Commandments 
and the sterling precepts of the Nineteenth Chapter 
of Leviticus, but to make these vital and of immediate 
and permanent effect, your personality is needed. If 

42 



the Teacher 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

you want your pupils to be prompt and regular in at- 
tendance, obedient to every requirement of the school, 
then you must yourself be conscientious in every detail. 
The old Jewish injunction : "Lo Hammidrash ikkor elo 
Hammaaseh," "Not knowing, but doing, is the prin- 
cipal thing," must find clear and faithful demon- 
stration in your own conduct. Thereby the child must 
be made to feel a loathing and shame for every moral 
lapse, and in the same degree such an earnest love for 
what is right that it comes to feel, indeed, that God is 
Righteousness. 



Through the 
Will of the 



Another important precept of Jewish pedagogy 
which has direct reference to the personality of the Teacher 
teacher is this: "Ain Kafdon Melamed," "No hot- 
tempered person can teach." We who are set to rule 
the will of others must rule our own wills first. In the 
self discipline of the teacher the pupil finds the most 
telling exemplification of that noble fruitage of edu- 
cation — self-control. Shouting, screaming, exhibitions 
of petulance, temper and rage are absolutely ruinous to 
teaching. The equalibility and serenity of the teacher, 
especially under provocation, is the primary quality 
through which the pupil imbibes the calmness of a dig- 
nified, self-contained attitude of judgment. This qual- 
ity is essential in defeating misunderstanding, preju- 
dice, and a thousand other cruelties. Let the light of 
fairness stream out on all your dealings, so that you 
may bring to your pupils some glimmerings of the rev- 
elation that God is Justice. 

If thus you appeal to intellect, conscience and Through the 
will, no less must you put heart into your teaching. Heart of the 
The unemotional teacher, devoid of enthusiasms, work- 
ing like a passionless machine, will deaden the nobler 
impulses of even the best of pupils. The finer graces 

43 



Teacher 



THE NEW BDU CATION IN RELIGION. 



Through 

the Soul of the 

Teacher 



Religion is 
Personal 



of character cannot be taught out of books, and religion 
cannot be learned by rote. These cannot be imparted, 
they can only be inspired. They constitute the mystic 
contagion of personality, which passes from the loving 
mother to the fond child, from anxious father to trust- 
ing son and in a potent measure also from the patient 
and loving teacher to admiring pupils. A close, sym- 
pathetic relation must be established between teacher 
and class. The heart must be in the work, that out of 
the glowing exultation of warm-hearted and mutual 
devotion may stream forth the revelation that God 
is Love. 

You are working upon the mind, the conscience, 
the will and the heart of your pupils, and what is the 
result you are to seek with clear and unwavering pur- 
pose? It is a certain indefinable, but none the less 
real quality which is the essence of purity, truthful- 
ness, righteousness, justice and love — that quality 
which makes for force of character and which we call 
soulfulness. 

Cultivate in your pupils the sense of wonder. Do 
not let them miss the daily uplift of the beauty and 
glory of the divine message of God's handiwork. 
Realize to them the majesty and dignity of the great 
endowments of the soul by which the human is lifted 
from the brutal to the divine. Quicken the sense of 
awe and gratitude for the loving Providence which is 
everywhere manifest, so that without fear or compul- 
sion the child may come to realize with gladness that 
God is worshipful. 

I believe that the habit of both public and private 
worship is of supreme value in cultivatng a truly re- 
ligious character, but only when infused with genuine 
soulfulness and spirit. I believe that the precepts and 

44 



THE NBW EDUCATION IN RBLIGION. 

doctrines of religion must be taught and explained, 
but they are merely theology, not religion. Theology 
is not religion. Theology is but the thought of man 
about God, Duty and Destiny. Religion is an attitude 
of the soul toward the universe and the Great Creator, 
potent to determine conduct and mould character. 
This attitude the teacher must cultivate within himself 
would he impart it to others. It is all in all a per- 
sonal relation. Such has it been among us from of 
yore. Thus we speak of Moses not so much as the 
great Emancipator, Lawgiver and Leader, but by the 
intimate personal title : Moshe Rabbenu — "Moses, our 
teacher." The minister of religion stands on an inti- 
mate personal footing with each one to whom he min- 
isters, who calls him fondly Rabbi, "My master." It 
is this personal touch which the teacher must cultivate 
with his pupils — shall his teaching be really effective 
in developing the personal "spiritual touch" between 
the individual soul and God. Let us emphasize this 
significant tradition of the Jewish schools by adding to 
Froebel's maxim, "We learn by doing," the equally 
vital truth, "We teach by being." 

RESUME 

Among teachers, the task assigned to those en- 
gaged in religious instruction is the most responsible. 
While others impart information and train for prac- 
tical vocations, the teacher of religion shares the privi- 
lege and duty of parent in developing the character of 
the child and training its spiritual life. 

In this task the Bible is universally acknowledged 
to be the most practical and effective aid when wisely 
used. Something more is needed than a mental drill 
in its contents, however thorough ihis may be. That 

45 



THE NEW BDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

"something more" is the mysterious touch of the 
teacher's personaHty. Religion as interpreted through 
the mind of the teacher reveals the divinity of truth 
in that degree in which truth is a personal conviction 
of the teacher. 

The conscientiousness of the teacher is absolutely 
requisite to vitalize the conscience of the pupil and 
impart the sense of obligation by which each one of 
us is constrained by the "Power not ourselves that 
makes for righteousness." 

In the self-discipline of the teacher lies the quiet, 
unconscious but all-powerful influence that constrains 
the pupil to the exercise of self-control and thus makes 
him able to share in the divine quality of Justice in- 
herent in the order of the universe. 

The forms, ceremonies and doctrines of religion 
may be taught. These are not religion, they are only 
its outward expression. Religion itself cannot be 
taught, it can only be inspired through an earnest and 
devout personality. It speaks from the heart, through 
the mind and will, but it must enter the soul. 

Religion is thus seen to be a purely personal rela- 
tion of the individual soul to God. All the exercises 
of religion are the means to attain soul-culture. 



46 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 



QUESTIONS 

1. Wherein does the function of a teacher of re- 
Hgion differ from that of a teacher of any other branch 
of cultural or social activity? 

2. Why is a mere intellectual or literary knowl- 
edge of the Bible insufficient for religious education? 

3. How is moral instruction made most effective ? 

4. How can the influence of the teacher become 
most effective over a child's will power? 

5. What especial qualifications ought a religious 
teacher possess? 

6. Why should a teacher put her heart in her 
work? 

7. What is the value of the sense of wonder and 
awe in the child? 

8. What is the value of worship to character- 
building ? 

9. What is religion? 

10. Explain the phrase, "We teach by being." 



47 



Materials for the Instruction of 
Primary Grades 

Pupils 7 to 8 and 8 to 9 years old. 



49 



THB NBW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 



Lesson V. MATERIALS FOR THE INSTRUCTION 
OF PRIMARY GRADES 

"The General Plan" laid down in Lesson I of this Retrospect 
Course sets forth, as preliminary to a definite curricu- 
lum for our Religious Schools, a clear understanding of 
three essential factors : 

1. The Child. 

2. The Teacher. 

3. The Book. 

We have made a careful study of the "Individual- 
ity of the Child" (Lessons II and III). We have em- 
phasized the influence of "The Personality of the 
Teacher" (Lesson IV). We come now to consider 
the third factor needed, viz. : the Book, or, rather, the 
materials used by the parent and teacher in giving in- 
struction to the child. The Correspondence School 
leaves it to the classroom teacher to use whatever text- 
books for pupils may be desired. These lessons aim 
to analyze the materials of instruction from the teach- 
ers' viewpoint. 

The principal text-book of the Jewish school is Analysis 
the Bible. By that title have the Scriptures in their Teaching 
entirety been distinguished. They are known to all the Material 
world as the Bible, meaning pre-eminently : The Book, 
or Book of Books (from the Greek Biblos). How- 
ever, the Jewish people themselves have no such name 
for their sacred writings, but speak of the various 
Hebrew Scriptures separately as Torah (Pentateuch), 
Nebiim (Prophets), Kethubim (Writings). For con- 
venience merely, these are sometimes spoken of as 

51 



THB NBW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 



Basis for 

Selecting 

the 

Materials of 

Instruction 



T'nak, from the initial letters of these three general 
divisions of Holy Writ. A gross and injurious con- 
f usiiDn has thus been evaded among us ; for while these 
ancient sources constitute the standard or Canon of 
Holy Writ, they do not confine and include all of 
Judaism, as so many suppose. Our religion did not 
cease its life and development with the close of the 
Bible. A great religious literature has been evolved dur- 
ing all the ages since, revealing the continuous unfold- 
ment and application of the principles of the Jewish 
faith under varied conditions to the present. (See 
Course V, The Jewish Religion, Lessons i8 and 19.) 
Out of this whole body of Jewish literature we draw 
the lessons of the Jewish religion. This material is 
to be carefully selected for school room uses and pre- 
sented in three distinct phases, viz. : 

1. Judaism as expressed in its precepts and 
practices. 

2. Judaism as formulated in Jewish worship. 

3. Judaism as illustrated in the history of the 
Jewish people. 

It is no easy task to present to the child the most 
serious and abstract of all themes — Religion. The 
difficulties are apparent. How to meet them has taxed 
the best efforts and called out the most devoted study 
and reflection of many earnest-minded instructors. 
An attempt is here made to summarize the best re- 
sults of these efforts on the part of the leading edu- 
cators of our day, to make them available to the stu- 
dents of this Correspondence School. (See Course 
n. Pedagogy Applied to Religious Instruction, p. 113.) 

It is generally agreed that, as in caring for the 
health of the body we must provide such food as it is 
able to assimilate, so in training the soul we must have 

52 



THB NBW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 



regard for the psychical conditions that are passed 
through in the advancing stages from childhood to 
youth, to adolescence and to maturity. (Lesson II, 
Personality of the Child.) 

It is furthermore revealed to us by those who 
have made a special study of these various stages of 
the deeper soul-life, and who are known as "Psycholo- 
gists," that each stage of development has its own dis- 
tinct aptitudes and characteristics. 

These periods are known respectively as the 
Periods of 

1. Childhood (Primary). 

2. Boyhood and Girlhood (Intermediate). 

3. Youth or Early Adolescence (Junior and 
Senior). 

4. Adolescence, Young Manhood and Young 
Womanhood (High School). 

5. Maturity (Adult). 

In these periods, intellect, emotion and will mani- 
fest themselves in modes sufficiently marked to dis- 
tinguish one period from the other. The lesson mate- 
rials must then be selected with due consideration to 
their adaptability to each of these periods. We pro- 
ceed therefore to a more detailed description of the 
qualities of the successive periods of the child's devel- 
opment during school years and to indicate the appro- 
priate materials of instruction for each of these 
periods. 

Infancy and early childhood precede school age. 
The Home is then the school, the parent the proper 
teacher. The child's training must be constant and 
unremitting. Its very life depends on such unceasing 
watchfulness. The training is first all physical. 
The earliest powers to awaken are those of imitation, 

53 



Religious 
Instruction 
Adapted 
to Early 
Childhood 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RBLIGION. 

consequently, correct example in action and speech are 
of supreme vSlue. Habits of eating, sleeping and of 
cleanliness must be formed, then those of prompt and 
cheerful obedience follow. Obedience is the primary 
lesson in morality. The first instinctive impulses of 
the child are naturally centered in itself. The superior 
will of parent must be put forth at once to control and 
guide the child's impulses. Out of these simple ele- 
ments are formed the very fundamentals of character 
— the foundations of a religious life. 

A Popular One of the popular fallacies of our times is that 

Fallacy -^yhich avers that children should not be indoctrinated 
with religion. It sounds broad and wise to say: "I 
will let my child wait until its mind has developed so 
that it can choose for itself in religious matters." The 
fact is, this statement is exceedingly shallow and nar- 
row. Many parents are careful to have their children 
learn dancing early to insure grace of movement or to 
receive musical instruction while their supple fingers 
may still be easily trained. To defer religious instruc- 
tion until the mind is ripe is to treat religion as solely 
a matter of intellect. This ignores the fact that child- 
hood offers the supreme opportunity for impressing 
on the plastic mind and heart right and noble impulses 
which determine the course of conduct in the critical 
moments of after life, and give direction to the devel- 
opment of character. At the loving mother's knee 
and by the anxious father's side, in our earliest years, 
we all receive our most precious spiritual gifts. Sim- 
ple prayers and songs touch the heart long before the 
mind apprehends their meaning. The beautiful cere- 
monials of the home, for Sabbaths and festivals, cannot 
be used too early, to associate these with the earliest 
awakenings of the child's consciousness and to imprint 

54 



THB NEW BDUCATION IN RBLIGION. 



on its memory impressions of life-lasting value. Child- 
hood is the age of sentiment. Let all the sentiments 
the child imbibes be reverential, loving and noble and 
you give it a proper preparation for the training of 
the school years in which new faculties come into play. 
Homes devoid of religion have necessitated the estab- 
lishment of kindergartens in some religious schools. 
The movement is still experimental, and therefore not 
included here. 

School age is usually fixed at six years. In the 
Religious School it may well begin a year later. Physical 
reasons alone are sufficient to warrant this decision, as 
this is the period of most rapid growth and change, 
when the children's diseases are imminent, and when 
daily confinement under the necessary restraint of the 
school room is harmful. The natural restlessness of 
children is physical and demands its free outlet in play. 
Besides, the awakening of mental activities must not 
be imperiled by overstimulation. 

The Primary Period, beginning at about seven 
years of age, may be extended over two years. The 
materials of instruction must be adapted to the mental, 
moral and spiritual capabilities of those years. It is 
observed that knowledge comes to us first through 
sense perception. Children learn from what they see, 
hear, touch and do. What is tangible, visible and con- 
crete fastens itself quickly and firmly in the memory 
of the young child. 

Teaching by Object Lessons is therefore the 
established method of pedagogy in our day. But this 
is not a new discovery. It is the avowed method of 
our Bible. Through concrete symbols, acts and cere- 
monies the sentiments and aims of religion find ex- 
pression. No more exquisite object lesson can be 

55 



The Primary 
Period 



Object Lessons 



THB NBW BDUCATION IN RBLIGION. 

found than the simple ceremonials of the Sabbath eve 
— kindling the lamp and the use of the bread and wine 
with the blessings. 

Likewise do the significant symbols of the festi- 
vals serve most admirably for conveying the teachings 
of religion to childhood, viz. : The Seder on Passover ; 
the fruit offering of Succoth (Tabernacles), and the 
American Thanksgiving Day; the flower festival, 
Shabuoth — Feast of Weeks ; the kindling of the lamp 
on 'Hannukah; and the gift-giving and good cheer of 
Purim. 

Formal instruction concerning the New Year and 
the Day of Atonement is too abstract to be included 
in the Primary Course. The teaching of Hebrew (or 
any other strange tongue) is not feasible at the Pri- 
mary period, excepting through private home instruc- 
tion. 
Tales of The capabilities for moral instruction in the child 

Family Life of the Primary grade are clearly indicated by the scope 
of its life experiences. These have centered in the 
home and been limited virtually to the family ties. 
Home duties form the proper materials then for in- 
struction. These are to be taught, not so much directly 
through formal injunctions as indirectly through the 
exquisite stories of home life in the early Biblical eras. 

No more admirable and effective materials are 
available than are the charming stories of the first 
family, of the Patriarchs, of Joseph and of the heroes 
of the Jewish festivals, Moses, Esther, Mordecai and 
Judas Maccabeus. Home duties are most naively set 
forth in the early tales of the childhood of the race. 
The filial, fraternal and parental duties are clearly and 
emphatically taught in the varied conditions of life 
from those of the simple tent to those of the princes 
in palaces. Thus, unconsciously the child is made to 

56 



THB NEW EDUCATION IN RBLIGION. 



realize the full, broad scope and bearing of its most 
familiar duties. 

Imagination is the earliest faculty to awaken in 
the mind. The child is hungry for food that feeds 
the fancy. Hence, what more suited than to teach 
of the Sabbath and the marvels of creation! The 
wonder stories of Genesis cannot be excelled in adapta- 
bility to the child mind. They touch the child's soul 
with deep and tender awe that is a gift of priceless 
worth. What though it be founded in credulity ! The 
awe of a man in the face of the sublime may be found- 
ed in reason, but after all the child and the man are 
one in the sense of reverence before the Unknown. 
What a cruel act then to rob the child in its age of 
wonder of all the rich heritage of impressions to feed 
its inmost soul and quicken the highest and noblest 
impulses of its being ! 

Prayer is native to the childlike spirit. Even 
men and women in order to be able to pray, must be 
conscious of their dependence on a higher Power. They 
must quicken the sense of trust, reverence, love and 
hope. In the child all these sentiments are present in 
their naturalness and purity, free from the question- 
ings which sometimes come in later life. Alas for the 
child that has not learned to lisp its simple prayer! 
That void is hardest to fill in later years. 

On the basis of the foregoing conclusions, the 
materials for instruction in the Primary Courses have 
been selected, and the Instructor of the Correspondence 
School has worked out a series of Lessons giving a 
two-years' Course for pupils ranging from seven to 
eight, and from eight to nine years. These are the re- 
sult of much earnest research and thought. They are 

57 



Wonder Stories 



Prayers 
for Children 



Outline of 
Primary Grade 

Lessons 



THB NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

the product of years of practical schoolroom experi- 
ence, put down as suggestions that may be helpful to 
others. 

The proper use of the lesson material thus offered 
will depend on circumstances. Each teacher must 
work out his own "plan" for the classroom, week by 
week, subdividing and using the material as the time 
allotted, number of pupils in class, equipment, class- 
room and other conditions permit. The recurrence 
of the festivals, the rotation of the seasons of the year, 
and the like, are large factors in deciding the order 
of the lessons, week by week, in the Primary grades. 
(See Curriculum, pp. 115-116.) 



RESUME 

The Child, the Teacher, the Book — these are the 
three essentials of the school. Having considered the 
first and second, this chapter is devoted to the third, 
viz. : the Materials of Instruction. These materials 
are drawn from the whole body of Jewish literature 
in and emanating from the Bible, and aim to present 
Judaism : 

1. As expressed in its precepts and practices. 

2. As formulated in Jewish worship. 

3. As illustrated in Jewish history. 

The selection of the materials is made on the basis 
of the psychological analysis of child nature, so that 
the subjects of instruction shall conform to the need 
of each of the successive periods from childhood to 
maturity. 

This lesson is devoted to a detailed analysis of the 
proper materials for pre-school age, and for the Pri- 
mary grades. 

58 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

QUESTIONS 

1. State the sources from which are derived the 
materials of instruction in the Jewish rehgion. 

2. Why is the indiscriminate use of the Bible 
unsuited for religious school purposes ? 

3. On what principles are the materials for in- 
struction to be selected? 

4. If a parent told you he did not believe in send- 
ing children to the religious school what would be your 
reply ? 

5. Write at least 50 words on religious training 
of children before school age. 

6. Cite some examples of teaching by object 
lessons enjoined by our religion. 

7. Why are the stories of the Book of Genesis 
to be commended for Primary grades ? 

8. Cite three examples of memory work you re- 
gard as appropriate for children of the Primary grade. 

9. What permanent value lies in childhood 
prayers and religious ceremonies? 

10. In the teaching of pupils of the Primary 
Grade how would you distinguish between childish- 
ness and childlikeness in your language? 



59 



Materials for the Instruction of 
Intermediate Grades 

Pupils 9 to 10 and 10 to 11 years old. 



61 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 



Lesson VI. MATERIALS FOR THE INSTRUCTION 
OF INTERMEDIATE GRADES 

It will be the aim of this Lesson (following out 
the plan presented in Lesson V) to indicate the basis 
on which the materials of instruction are to be selected 
for boys and girls who have advanced into the school 
grades succeeding the Primary. A study of the 
mental, moral and spiritual aptitudes and qualities of 
pupils of the Intermediate classes is herewith presented. 
These classes are for pupils of 9 to 10 and 10 to 11 
years of age, or thereabouts. As a result of the con- 
clusions reached, the selection of appropriate topics 
will be offered in three distinctive fields of study to 
which our religious schools are devoted, viz. : 

1. Judaism as expressed in its precepts and 
practices. 

2. As formulated in Jewish worship. 

3. As illustrated in the history of the Jewish 
people. 

There is, as a matter of fact, no such clearly de- 
fined difference in the mental traits of human beings 
as would enable us to mark off strictly one period of 
development from another. The mental traits of one 
period of development are prolonged into the succes- 
sive periods. To say that there is a sudden and well- 
marked change at any such fixed moment as, e. g., the 
tenth year, would be an absurdity. Nevertheless any 
observer may verify the fact that when children pass, 
though imperceptibly yet none the less actually, out 
of childhood into the next succeeding stage, they do 
exhibit a change in their capabilities and interests. 

63 



Aim of the 
lesson 



Mental Traits 
of Boyhood and 
Girlhood 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 



Preception Thus, e. g., while knowledge continues to be derived 
mainly through sense-perception, the range of impres- 
sions is widened and depened by the expanded powers 
of the child. These impressions made on the plastic 
mind by "object lessons," are seized and held by it 
most firmly; that is to say, Memory now begins with 
notable effect to assert its powers. Henceforward it 
continues to grow more and more in strength as it is 
exercised. Its development yields a facility and firm- 
ness which attain to their fullness about the eighteenth 
to twenty-fifth year. The powers of memory once 
built up, remain a valuable mental asset for life. 

Memory Educational systems have erred in letting memory 

have supreme control. To "know one's lessons" has 
meant for many, merely "to memorize them." A clear 
understanding of their meaning was not a primary 
essential. To avoid this grave error the materials 
to be memorized must therefore be selected with due 
regard to the child's ability to comprehend, for with- 
out an intelligent conception of the words and the 
thoughts these embody, the memory-work is mechan- 
ical and of little lasting value. With this caution ever 
in mind, the teacher is to take advantage, in the Inter- 
mediate and succeeding grades, of the pupil's facility 
for memorizing. Memory Gems, Biblical texts, 
Proverbs and Maxims will afford rich materials for 
instruction. 

Rythm exercises a marked charm over the mind 
of childhood. The appeal to the poetic fancy within 
the range of the taste and sentiments of boyhood and 
girlhood, affords a ready and unfailing impulse to the 
exercise of memory. Therefore, it is well that appro- 
priate Psalms, hymns and songs be taught. 

64 



THB NEW EDUCATION IN RBLIGION. 



This love in boys and girls for the poetic is evi- 
dence of the alertness of fancy. In the Intermediate 
grades the sense of wonder abides almost as strong 
and pure as in the earlier periods of childhood. Imag- 
ination now lies nearer to the things of real life, but it 
is still hungry for fable, fiction and miracle, and less 
interested in hard, reasoned fact. 

Let the teacher aim to conserve this childlike spirit 
of wonder. Guard carefully against destroying it by 
intruding the questions of the later period when reason 
asserts its claim. To the child, God is. There is no 
question about His power to do everything. 

The wonder stories of the Bible, the miracles and 
revelations as an appeal to the sense of awe may have 
lost their effect with the unpoetic, rationalistic mind 
of men of affairs. The same is also true, unfortunate- 
ly, of the mystery of life, the wonder of sleep, the 
miracle of telephone and a thousand other familiar 
scientific contrivances, which are products of that 
deepest mystery we lightly dismiss when we name it 
genius. 

When children of nine to twelve years ask 
questions beyond their years, it is best to defer answers 
which they are mentally unfit and unprepared to grasp, 
for the result is only confusion. It is wiser to check 
precocity than to stimulate it. Instruction, according 
to the maxim of the ancient Jewish schools must be 
given "measure by measure." Let the pupil be im- 
pressed with the fact that as he cannot roll a stone 
from the highway, but must secure the strength of a 
man for the task, so must he await the strength of 
maturity of mind to understand many problems. In- 
deed, he may as well know at once that many, many 
problems even mature men and women cannot solve. 

65 



Imagina- 
tion 



Rationaliz- 
ing 
Deferred 



THB NEW BDUCATION IN RELIGION. 



Religious 
Training for 
Intermedi- 
ate Classes 



Let the teacher beware of rationalizing with pu- 
pils of the Intermediate grades. We shall consider 
in our next lesson what the teacher is to answer "when 
children ask questions." 

On the basis of these general observations in ref- 
erence to perception, memory and imagination as the 
mental tools of this period, we proceed to indicate the 
proper selection of materials for instruction in the 
class room. 

It is still too early for any formal or systematic 
instruction in the precepts of the Jewish faith. The 
methods employed in the Primary grades are to be 
continued and expanded in the Intermediate. Re- 
ligious precepts may indeed be well imparted in the 
Memory Gems, Biblical Texts, Commandments, 
Prayers and the like to which reference has been made. 
But in each case these must be directly associated with 
the institutes, the practices and concrete ceremonials 
which are the real staple of instruction. Thus when 
impressing the modes of Sabbath observance — texts 
crystallizing the Sabbath sentiment are to be memor- 
ized as an incident of the instruction. The following 
are suggested : 

The Fifth Commandment, Ex. xx : 8-11. 

"My Sabbath shall ye keep, and my sanctuary 
shall ye reverence — 

I am the Lord." Lev. xix : 30. 

"Ye shall revere every man his mother and his 
father, and my Sabbath shall ye keep — I am the Lord 
your God." Lev. xix. 

Psalm xcii. A Psalm and Song for the Sabbath 
Day. 

Prior to the coming of Passover the Haggadah 
should serve as a text-book in the classroom. Let the 

66 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

symbols be dearly explained. The Ma Nishfanah, 
i. e., questions assigned to the child, and other portions 
may be memorized, as well as the Passover Hymns 
and Folk Songs. 

The song of Moses and Miriam at the Red Sea 
may be read and some verses committed to memory. 

Ex. XV, 

For Shabuoth the Ten Commandments, Ex. xx. 

For Succoth, read responsively, Ps. 107. Mem- 
orize opening and closing stanzas. 

Prior to Hannukah, the Benedictions for kindling 
the lights should be memorized (See Prayer Book) 
and a selection from II Maccabees read (see Union 
Prayer Book, Vol. I, page 92). The answer of Mat- 
tathias to the king and officers should be committed to 
memory. 

In connection with Purim Ps. cxxiv may be mem- 
orized. 

For New Year the festival greeting, Ushono 
Tovo Tikkosevu, "May you be inscribed to a happy 
New Year" is to be taught, and also kindred Sabbath 
and festival greetings, and their use explained. 

The deepest impressions in the soul are ever made Personal Prayer 
through prayer. It is the sublimest act of which a 
human being is capable. The attitude of mind in that 
act is turned away from the commonplace to the ideal. 
The attitude of heart is toward all sentiments that are 
noble. The attitude of spirit, face to face with mys- 
tery — in the midst of which we live, is that of awe 
and reverence. Sincere personal prayer is our divinest 
capacity. The pure, simple and earnest quality of the 
childlike spirit still abides in normal boyhood and girl- 
hood. It must be utilized to cultivate and cherish the 
habit of prayer as one of life's supreme possessions. 

67 



THE NBW BDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

When the home has been negligent in cultivating 
the habit of personal devotion the school must repair 
the neglect. Each child must be taught the daily 
prayers and required to offer daily the morning and 
night prayers, and grace at meals. These may be 
assigned from whatever form of the Prayer Book the 
teacher may select and the school or congregation may 
prescribe. 

We offer references to 

"The Authorized Daily Prayer Book" of the 
United Hebrew Congregations of the British Empire, 
by Rev. S. Singer, Werthhimer, Lea & Co., Circus 
Place, London, 

"Prayers for Private Devotion" from the Union 
Prayer Book, edited by the Central Conference of 
American Rabbis, Bloch Pub. Co., 40 E. Fourteenth 
street, New York City. 

PubUc Worship Preparation for participation in public worship 

should be entered upon in the Intermediate class. 
Emerging from the period of childhood and the limited 
sphere of the home, the social consciousness awakens 
with the associations of boyhood and girlhood. The 
school itself is a small social world with the classes as 
social groups. A new force here enters into the 
religious development. The personal needs^ hopes, 
trials and ambitions blend into those of a small com- 
munal organization, the school. The school prayer in 
the classroom, the School worship in the general 
assembly — these express and cultivate the common 
bond of unity, and also the hopes, feelings and desires 
cherished by all together. The school should be re- 
garded as a Junior Congregation, which epitomizes the 
Synagogue of the adults, which in turn is a member 
of the Congregation of Israel at large. For the class- 

68 



For the School 



THB NEW BDUCATION IN RBUGION. 

room prayer the following is suggested, and may be 
offered in unison : 

"Our Heavenly Father, bless our school. May 
the lessons we receive help us to follow the voice of 
conscience, and to obey Thy laws cheerfully. May we 
love the truth and speak the truth. May the thought 
of Thee keep us from doing any evil. Inspire us with 
humility, with faith and trust in Thee. Bless our 
parents and our teachers, and all those who are engaged 
in good and noble works. May the words of our 
mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable 
in Thy sight, O God our Rock and our Redeemer." 
(The Shema.) 

As a preparation for taking part in the worship 
of the larger congregation in the Synagogue or Tem- Assembly 
pie, an abridgement of the usual divine service should 
be used in the School Assembly. A valuable experi- 
ence is offered to pupils in the highest grade (Con- 
firmation Class) by having each member in turn serve 
as the reader. 

The pupils participate in the responsive readings ; 
in offering some of the prayers in concert, (The 
Shema, etc.) ; in singing the choral responses and 
hymns, (En Kelohenu, Adon Olom and selections from 
the proper hymnals). 

Hebrew is the language of Jewish worship. This 
has been true throughout the generations of the past. Language 
That fact associates with this language a devout senti- 
ment of incalculable value in fostering a prayerful 
spirit of reverence. Tradition and history thus com- 
bine in hallowing this usage and imparting to it the 
force of a deep psychologic value, which cannot be 
surrendered without irreparable loss in the effort to 
touch the hidden springs of the spiritual nature. 

69 



The Hebrew 



THE NBW BDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

Hebrew remains the universal language of prayer 
among the Jewish people throughout the world. Prac- 
tical considerations have prompted the introduction of 
the vernacular of the lands in which the Jews live. 
This has been the case from the days when Aramaic 
was admitted to the prayer books of Palestine and 
Greek into those of Alexandria, to our days, when the 
modern tongues are admitted into the worship of Eu- 
ropean lands and America. Even where other lan- 
guages are given the larger place, Hebrew is still re- 
tained in some measure in all Synagogues. So much 
of Hebrew as is used in the congregational worship 
must therefore be taught, logically, in every Jewish 
school. This bond of unity between all Israelites is 
of supreme value in strengthening and enriching the 
spiritual ties which hold all Israel in one brotherhood 
and unite them in the worship of their common Father 
—God. 

Added to these considerations is the fact that the 
sacred tongue enshrines the Hebrew literature, which 
the world acknowledges is of supreme value to man- 
kind. The responsibility for the maintenance of that 
literature as a living stream of expression rests, as a 
matter of course, with the Jewish people. Out of the 
love for Hebrew engendered by its use in prayer must 
come that devotion which will stimulate at least a fair 
percentage of our generation to continue the pursuit 
and appreciation of Hebrew learning throughout life. 

Hebrew in the Instruction in the Hebrew language has been made 

simple and interesting in the method worked out by 
the Chautauqua system of Jewish education. There 
are two courses, an Introductory course and the Ad- 
vanced Course. These have gone into wide use 
throughout the country. The Introductory course 

70 



Intermediate 

Classes 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 



leads by easy stages through the analytic and synthetic 
method, to the immediate construction of phrases and 
sentences. The vocabulary is designed to familiarize 
the pupil mainly with the words of the Prayer Book. 
Interest is speedily kindled and the zeal of the 
classes readily sustained by an enthusiastic teacher. 
This Course is intended for pupils of the Intermediate 
and Junior Grades. The Senior course is devoted to 
the Prayer Book itself, together with Hebrew com- 
position and grammar offered in the Chautauqua Ad- 
vanced Hebrew Course. 

Judaism as illustrated in the history of our people 
is to be set forth in the Intermediate classes through 
materials selected from the lives of the great leaders, 
from Moses to Solomon. The awakened social con- 
sciousness which comes with boyhood and girlhood is 
fostered by a study of the groups which evolve from 
the families of the sons of the Patriarchs, developing 
from tribal into the national existence. In the fore- 
ground are to be placed the leaders. 

The personal side of life is of strongest appeal at 
this age, therefore the lives of such striking personali- 
ties as Moses, Aaron, Miriam, Joshua, Samuel, Saul 
and David, interest them keenly. The personal rela- 
tionships and the attendant duties of brothers, brother 
and sister, companions and friends illustrated in these 
biographies are of vital effect as moral lessons. These 
are the points of view to be properly presented at this 
period. Other and more complex situations and duties 
belong to the studies of more mature years. Let this 
be clearly understood : that it is not the purpose of 
these lessons to offer any exhaustive treatment of the 
Pentateuch records, but an eclectic one (for classroom 
use) suited to boys and girls. There has heretofore 

71 



History 
in the Inter- 
mediate 
Classes 



THE NBW HDU CATION IN RBLIGION. 



Correspon- 

denceSchool 

Lessons are 

for teachers 

not for 

pupils 



been too much cramming to get all possible Bible 
knowledge into the heads of our boys and girls before 
Confirmation. Judaism should be a continuous life's 
study. With this understanding the topics in Bible 
History for the Intermediate Course have been se- 
lected. (See Curriculum, pp. 117-118.) 

These lessons have been worked out for teachers, 
not for pupils. They give the materials of instruction, 
with suggestions step by step for the right methods 
of presentation. It will be found that each lesson has 
appropriate texts, "Memory Gems," Maxims and 
Biblical selections offered to drive home as a perma- 
nent possession the moral precepts of Judaism. These 
pithy sayings afford the child a most valuable equip- 
ment for later years, when the larger meaning and 
wider application become apparent through the lessons 
of life's experiences. Then, as they recur to mind, 
they will serve as a well-stocked armory against temp- 
tations ; a tower of strength for times of weakness and 
trial. 



RESUME 

This lesson analyzes the mental, moral and spirit- 
ual qualities of pupils in the classes intermediate be- 
tween the Primary and Junior grades. Memory now 
comes to the fore, added to sense-perception and im- 
agination. The appeal of the religious instruction must 
be addressed to these. Reason begins to assert itself in 
the questions asked by boys and girls, the replies to 
which they are often not yet mentally able to grasp. 
Memory and comprehension must go hand in hand. 

The materials for religious training are selected 
and assigned with regard to the child's equipment. 

72 



THB NBW BDUCATION IN RBLIGION. 

No formal, abstract instruction is to be given, but con- 
crete ceremonials and incidental memorizing of texts 
crystallizing the truth set forth, are to be offered. 

The importance of prayer as a means of moral 
and spiritual training is emphasized in both aspects 
of personal prayer and public worship. The value of 
the Hebrew language in this earnest task is explicitly 
impressed. 

The lessons from Bible History are selected with 
reference to the personal appeal in the biographies of 
Bible heroes. These are presented as illustrative of 
such simple, personal duties as the pupils of this age 
can understand, while at the same time the wider rela- 
tion of these duties to the social group and the nation 
are made manifest. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Give an analysis of the qualities of boyhood 
and girlhood as compared with childhood. 

2. What grave error in the educational system is 
pointed out and how is it to be evaded? 

3. Why is rationalizing unsuited to instruction in 
Intermediate grades? 

4. Analyze prayer as a personal and as a public 
service, indicating the distinct value of each. 

5. Do you believe in the teaching of Hebrew in 
our religious schools? Give three reasons for your 
opinion. 

73 



Materials for the Instruction of 
Junior and Senior Grades 

JUNIORS 
I and II— Pupils 11 to 12 and 12 to 13 years old. 

SENIORS 
I and II — Pupils 13 to 14 and 14 to 15 years old. 



75 



THB NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 



Lessons VII— VIII MATERIALS FOR THE 
INSTRUCTION OF JUNIOR AND SENIOR GRADES 

As a sequence of what has been presented in the 
previous lessons, we shall aim in this lesson to indicate 
the qualities that characterize the pupils of the Junior 
and Senior grades who range through four classes 
from II to 15 years of age. On the basis of this 
analysis the materials for instruction in the Religious 
School are selected. The appropriate topics are then 
offered for specific instruction in the Jewish Religion, 
Jewish Ethics, the Hebrew language and Biblical 
History. 

Boys and girls between the ages of eleven and 
fifteen enter into the opening era of youth, known as 
early adolescence. A certain self-consciousness some- 
times producing bashfulness and timidity, is due to 
their physical differences, whether these be clearly or 
but dimly realized by them. It is imperative that the 
teacher keep these relationships on the simple and 
matter-of-fact plane of that which is natural between 
brothers and sisters or cousins and congenial friends 
at that age. This is a period of deep susceptibility. 
The emotions are easily aroused for good or for ill. It 
is a time of ready and lofty enthusiasms. It is pre- 
eminently the age of hero worship. It is a time for 
fervent feeling, which may be guided to ardent faith 
or misled even to superstition, fanaticism and melan- 
choly. More frequently it rebounds into doubt, skepti- 
cism and open revolt against all religious and moral 
restraint. 

77 



Aim of the 
Lesson 



Mental Traits 
of Early 
Adolescence 



Reason asserts 
Itself 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

It will be seen that the real work of religious 
training actually comes into play from this period 
onward. Heretofore the child has been a creature 
swayed by natural impulses. These simply needed 
direction and guidance leading to the formation of good 
habits. But now the individuality characterizing youth 
is seen in the fact that reason asserts its claims. The 
interminable questions of boys and girls must now be 
reckoned with constantly. From the time that the 
wondering eyes of the child open on the world, its lit- 
tle mind is active. Mother and father are kept busy 
answering the eager questions and are baffled daily 
and hourly with the riddles every child can ask, but 
which the wisest philosopher cannot solve. The nat- 
ural curiosity of the child prompts to these inquiries. 
In youth this is further reinforced by the awakened 
reason. 

All that has heretofore been learned, and all that 
will be learned hereafter must pass through the cru- 
cible of the questioning age. The appeal to credulity 
which was natural in childhood and still avails in the 
"Intermediate" period is now no longer effective. It 
is necessary to meet the eager inquiries of the pupils 
in a spirit of like eagerness to respond. Right rela- 
tions between parent and child, or teacher and pupil 
depend upon an attitude of helpfulness. Nothing will 
so surely chill and destroy this relationship as impa- 
tience and unresponsiveness to the eager inquiries of 
the young. Often it is necessary to repress these (as 
suggested in Lesson VI) in order to hold them down 
to matters within the scope of the child's comprehen- 
sion. Greater latitude must, however, be permitted to 
questioning, with each advancing year. It is also nec- 
essary to guard against allowing questions and discus- 

78 



THE NBW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

sions irrelevant to the topic in hand or but remotely 
connected with it. These safeguards against wasting 
the time of the class and keeping within proper range 
of the graded system of studies, must be firmly ad- 
hered to during instruction. The spirit of disputation 
and the fondness for debate must now be wisely used 
and turned into a helpful agency for instruction. 

Informal conversations outside of class hour with 
individuals and groups may clear up much confusion. 
Pupils should therefore be urged to come to the teacher 
for more detailed replies to their inquiries. 

These cautions having been observed, we must ^^^^ children 
confront the searching inquiry : "What is the teacher ^ ^^^ '""^ 
or parent to do when the child asks questions?" An- 
swer them if you can. "If the teacher or parent is 
not prepared to answer, what then?" Never pretend. 
The mere suspicion on the part of the pupil that you 
are making a pretense is a fatal blow to the perfect 
confidence which is a fundamental condition of all 
instruction. On the contrary, a frank admission that 
you do not know, will preserve that confidence and 
even enhance the respect of the pupil for you. It is 
easy to make a child understand that no one knows 
everything about a subject, though every one may 
know something about it. The promise to "look it up" is 
always satisfactory, providing that promise be con- 
scientiously kept. 

It is an unpardonable offense for any teacher to 
appear before his class unprepared. Not alone should 
the lesson material be well in hand, but the plan of 
presentation must be clearly worked out in advance 
and faithfully followed. Clarity will preclude many 
unnecessary questions. 

79 



THB NBW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 



A Typical 

Question of 

Youth 



"Is it true?" 

The typical question which trembles on the lips 
of youth is this : "Is it true." This question refers, at 
this period of life, not so much to the abstract princi- 
ples and doctrines of religion, as to the facts of Bib- 
lical history. The youth is thrilled with the marvelous 
deeds of such heroic leaders as Moses, Joshua, Gideon, 
Deborah and Elijah. He is spurred by their example 
to pattern his life on these concrete illustrations of 
courage, loyalty, self-sacrifice and devotion to princi- 
ple. To stimulate and foster that desire, in small as 
well as in great things, should be the earnest purpose 
of every parent and teacher. Here we face the diffi- 
culty indicated in the constantly recurring inquiry, 
"Is it true?" which is urged against the love of the 
marvelous by the awakening demands of the reason- 
ing faculty. 



The Jewish 
Mode of Teach- 
ing about 
Miracles 



The miraculous abounds in the Scriptural narra- 
tives. It is the glory of the Jewish schools that they 
have never stifled, but, on the contrary, have always 
encouraged the questionings of the intellect. The 
Rabbins of old answered these by the simple maxim of 
interpretation : "The Thorah speaks in the language 
of men." The Hebrew Bible commentators, from the 
earliest days, explained that human modes of expres- 
sion are our only means of speaking of the divine. 
Thus the Scriptures use such figurative terms as "The 
hand of God," meaning His power; "the eye of God," 
meaning His omniscience, and so on. Then also, it is 
to be remembered that the men and the events of the 
past are naturally glorified and idealized by the people. 
We have our "Heroic Age," as has every historic 
people. 

80 



THB NBW EDUCATION IN RBLIGION. 

It is necessary for the instructor to lead on cau- 
tiously from the wonders of the age of myth, fable 
and miracle to the far more stupendous wonders of 
the realities of this age of science and discovery. Point 
out how natural it is in the childhood of every indi- 
vidual as of the race, to surround the mysterious and 
the unknown with the halo of supernaturalism. Em- 
phasize the important fact that it is not the "how," but 
the "what " of the miracle which is of permanent value. 
The contents of the Ten Commandments are of eternal 
worth. The method of their revelation is of minor 
consideration, whether attended by overwhelming nat- 
ural phenomena (Ex. xix), or marked by the deeper 
mystery of the apprehension of eternal truth through 
the superior insight of genius. The appeal of the mir- 
acle has been of boundless force throughout the gen- 
erations; the appeal of reason may be more potent in 
our days. The grounds of obligation and the sanctions 
of morality remain equally mysterious, whether the 
marvelous in the external world or the inexplicable 
within the soul of man attest their divine quality. Both 
are effective in deepening the sense of awe, which our 
prosaic age is so apt to lose, but which is of supreme 
and fundamental significance in the culture of the 
religious sentiment. 

"Is it right ?" A second 

A second typical question of youth is the con- oues^n 
stantly recurring "Why?" This has reference to the 
admonitions of conduct. It is prompted not merely 
by the native curiosity of the young, but by the deeper 
fact of the breaking up of the foundations of authority. 
These, during childhood, are implied in the word of 
parent, teacher and elder. Once reason becomes 
active, the "why" and the "wherefore" of every "Thou 

81 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RBLIGION. 

shalt" and "Thou shalt not" is eagerly demanded. 
Until onr days, and to a great extent even now, this 
demand has been met and implicit obedience secured 
from youth by the exercise of force through corporal 
punishment or by the infliction of other forms of pain, 
through rigorous denial of privileges or by humiliation 
and shame. Such repression is unfair to the youth 
and unworthy of the parent or teacher. The proper 
method lies in the cautious leading forward from the 
plane of unquestioned acquiescence in the word of 
another, to those higher sources of authority in which 
that word finds its justification. This is the time for 
presenting the legal aspect of Judaism. It is not diffi- 
cult to impress upon youth the dignity, the wisdom and 
authority of the eternal principles of right woven by 
the Creator into the very constitution of things and 
epitomized in such codes as, e. g., the Ten Command- 
ments, Ex. XX, 1-14; the Book of the Covenant, Ex. 
xxi-xxiv; the Covenant of Holiness, Lev. xix, 1-18. 
Selections from these may well be committed to mem- 
ory as time may permit and the discretion of the teacher 
may determine. It is not difficult to impress upon the 
youth the value of the experience of those who are 
older, and to persuade them to accept the guidance of 
the wisdom of the ages, crystallized in the Proverbs 
and Maxims to which all the world assents. The fol- 
lowing are suggested : Proverbs iv, 10-19, The Two 
Paths; Psalm i; Proverbs iv, 20-27, Wisdom and 
Health; Proverbs vi, 6-1 1, The Sluggard; Proverbs 
xii-xxii afford a wide field for selection. An interest- 
ing and effective method is to have each pupil respond 
to the roll-call at each session by reciting one or more 
of these maxims. All the members of the class are 
thus familiarized with these texts, and each member 
assimilates at least those he himself has memorized. 

82 



THE NEW BDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

Such a wealth of laws and guiding maxims con- The seat of 
stitute a valuable storehouse from which the youth ^"^^^^^ 
will be sure to draw helpful counsel for the conduct 
of life. Nevertheless it is well to face the truth that 
however forcefully impressed, external authority may, 
and often does fail. It is imperative that the external 
authority which exacts obedience must, little by little, 
yield to the internal authority which makes obedience 
spontaneous. Exercise in self-control must now begin. 
This is the highest aim, as it is the most difficult 
achievement and the most precious outcome of all 
religious training. 

A sailor on land, released from the ship's control ; 
a soldier out of the barracks, freed from the word 
of command ; an orphan out of an asylum, where his 
every step has been regulated by the tap of the bell — 
these often commit grievous errors and are pitiable 
instances of such as have had no opportunity to learn 
the great lesson of self-mastery. The discipline of the 
home, the school and of every institution of training 
should be arranged on the principle that the child ad- 
vancing out of childhood into youth must be tested, not 
by imposing more restraints — which make it helpless — 
but by granting more freedom, which makes it self- 
reliant. This principle should be applied just as rap- 
idly, but no more rapidly, than such freedom can be 
properly used. How is this to be discovered ? By test 
and experimentation. Rules, laws, precepts and max- 
ims are not to be memorized merely, but to be put into 
action. The great motto of the Jewish schools is to be 
carried out which says : "Lo Hamidrash ikkar ello 
ha-ma'aseh" — 'Tt is not the knowing^ but the doing, 
which is the principal thing." 

The parent and teacher should take every oppor- 
tunity to appeal to and strengthen the authority within, 

83 



THB NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 



Materials of 

Instruction in 

Religion 



by insisting on the rule of conscience, and by putting 
the young "on their honor," as in matters of "prompt- 
ing," copying and the Hke. ( See Training of the Will, 
Lesson III, p. 32.) Loyalty should be deepened by tests 
of self-sacrifice, as in matters of Sabbath observance, 
or withdrawing from daily school or work in honor of 
the holidays ; by the fast on the Day of Atonement and 
other acts of self-discipline. Occasion should be found 
to require definite acts done in deference to the honor 
of the family name, the honor of the school, of the 
city, of the State, of the flag of our country. Above 
all, acts of friendship, sympathy, good-will and char- 
ity are to be performed and not merely discussed. An 
admirable plan is for the teacher outside of school 
hours to visit, with the pupils, institutions of charity 
to which their gifts are sent, also museums, schools 
and sanctuaries. Much can be taught in this manner, 
free from the restraints of the class room. Many 
practical ends can be attained, especially in deepening 
the personal ties between the pupils themselves, and 
between each pupil and the teacher. For this effort 
the teacher and parent will feel abundantly repaid. 

On the basis of the analysis which has now been 
made, we present a definite and systematic course of 
lessons for teaching of the Jewish Religion in the 
Junior and Senior Grades. The material has been 
mapped out in 21 lessons. The Introductory lesson 
is entirely for the teacher and parent. The remaining 
twenty lessons give the method of instruction, along 
with the materials. This material is to be distribued 
throughout four years of classroom work, viz. : Les- 
sons 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 for the Junior I ; 7, 8, 9, 10, 1 1 for 
the Junior II; 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 for Senior I; 17, 18, 
19, 20, 21 for Senior II. 

84 



THE NBW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

This divisions should allow, during each year, op- 
portunity for a review, especially of the festivals, as 
they recur. 
(See Curriculum, p. 120.) 

Besides the formal instruction in Judaism the Religious Exer- 
habits of the religious life are to be developed during cises 
youth. The daily acts of personal prayer and regular 
attendance at public worship are to be insisted upon. 
Many congregations hold a special children's service 
on Sabbath, and on some holidays. This is desirable 
for many reasons. A distaste is often created in the 
young, which is apt to remain for life, due to the 
tediousness of a public worship designed for adults. 
The child has perhaps never been accorded so 
prominent a place in the synagogue as it is 
now privileged to hold. It is well that even at the 
earliest possible age, at least once a year, even the 
younger children should be brought into the atmosphere 
of the sanctuary. The most available opportunity is 
the one afforded in the beautiful Succoth Festival, with 
its rich emblems of nature's gifts. Let every child 
bring its little basket of fruit on that day, to be sent to 
the sick or needy. 'Hannukah, with its kindling of 
the lamps and Purim with its joyousness are pre-emi- 
nently children's festivals. Confirmation is for our 
youth the great convocation. To it the eyes of the 
Primary, Junior and Senior grades should be directed 
with high anticipation of its privileges and responsibili- 
ties. These preliminary years must be known as years 
of preparation for that great event. 

The training of boys and girls in singing the 
hymns and responses of the Sanctuary is of untold 
value. It gives them at once a feeling of being "at 
home" when they recognize the tunes and are able to 

85 



THB NBW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 



The Hebrew 
Instruction 



Jewish Ethics 



participate with their elders in the singing. Indeed no 
more effective means of promoting congregational sing- 
ing can be devised than to train our youths to fall nat- 
urally into this habit as they advance to adult life, year 
by year. 

An essential part of these religious exercises is 
to be found in the training in Hebrew through partici- 
pation in the worship. In schools which usually meet 
but once a week, and are interrupted by a long summer 
vacation, it is found necessary to limit the Hebrew in- 
struction to the First Course Book. This should be 
completed during the four years of the Intermediate 
and Junior grades. In the Senior year the Hebrew 
of the Prayer Book should be read and lessons of the 
advanced course in Hebrew grammar and composition 
applied. 

In Judaism Religion and Ethics' are as inseparable 
as mother and babe. To religion all moral action 
owes its strength and nutriment. Our belief in God 
and our worship of Him is the source of inspiration 
for all the ideahsm which is fostered in life. In the 
Supreme Will lies for us the sanction and ground of 
all moral obligation, whence duty springs. It is there- 
fore as a mere matter of convenience for instructors 
that lessons in Jewish Ethics are presented separately. 
In the earlier classes all duties have been taught inci- 
dentally. Our youth is now ready for a definite sys- 
tematic presentation of the whole range of the duties 
which are enjoined by our religion. These cover all 
conditions of life and all human relations from the 
cradle to the grave. They have been summarized in 
many treatises and codes. The course of i6 lessons 
here offered constitutes a summary for class instruc- 
tion. As with the course in Religion, so in the course 

86 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 



on Ethics, the material, which is quite extensive, is to 
be divided for use in the four classes of the Junior and 
Senior grades. The division is made on the basis of 
the gradually enlarging scope of the activities and re- 
sponsibilities of youth. Enough matter is offered in 
each topic to serve for most interesting reading, study 
and discussion, ranging through as long a period as 
any school may be able to permit. All the topics may, 
however, be treated quite concisely. The teacher will 
have to divide up the materials in Religion and Ethics 
to conform to the hours and time during the year 
allowed for these subjects. It is best to condense 
rather the work of other sessions and give full oppor- 
tunity for the courses in Religion and Ethics. (See 
Curriculum, p. 121 •) 

The presentation of Judaism in process of his- 
torical development and action is continued in the 
Junior and Senior grades according to the biographical 
method of presentation. This is the age of hero- 
worship. Israel's greatest moral heroes are the Proph- 
ets. Their life and work are in the foreground. These 
are set off against the background of the national his- 
tory. After a general review centering about the ear- 
liest prophets, we consider the era of the decline and 
fall of the two Kingdoms : Israel and Judah. This era 
is followed by the period of the Babylonian Exile and 
the time of the Restoration. The topics for Junior 
I-II are set forth in Course IV, C-D. (See Curricu- 
lum, p. 119.) 

Our insight into the processes of Judaism in 
action is further presented in following the course of 
history after Bible times. The stirring and dramatic 
incidents of the Second Hebrew Commonwealth are 
grouped about the great leaders, heroes and Rabbis. 

87 



Material for 
Instruction 
in History 



PostBiblical 
History 



THB NBW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

The topics in history for the Senior grades are as 
follows: For Senior I-II, Course Vll-a. (See Cur- 
riculum, p. 122.) 

RESUME 

The aim of this Lesson is to mark out the mate- 
rials for instruction in Judaism suitable for the period 
of early adolescence, ranging from about ii to 15 years 
of age, and containing four years of work in religious 
classes, called Junior grades I-II and Senior grades 
I-II. 

The mental, moral and spiritual characteristics of 
this period are analyzed on the basis of modern psy- 
chological investigations and the conclusions of the 
science of Pedagogy. It is found that the real work 
of religious training involving not merely receptivity, 
but also activity, now begins. Methods of creating 
such activity rest on a systematic basis of formal in- 
struction in the Precepts and Practices of the Jewish 
Religion and Jewish Ethics, covering the duties of 
life as they come into the expanding scope of the ex- 
periences of youth. 

This is pre-eminently the age of hero worship. 
Therefore the heroes of Israel, the great leaders of 
successive ages, are to serve as the illuminating figures 
revealed against the background of the unfolding his- 
tory of the Jewish people. 

QUESTIONS 

I. Describe the characteristics which distinguish 
the period of early adolescence from the preceding 
years. 



THE NBW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

2. Write not less than fifty words setting forth 
your views in reference to the questioning habit in 
pupils. 

3. How would you treat the miracles of the Bible 
as materials for instruction? 

4. Explain the assertion made in the Lesson, that 
"Self-control is the highest aim, as it is the most diffi- 
cult achievement and the most precious outcome of all 
religious training." 

5. Give six practical methods of fulfilling the 
maxim of the Jewish schools, "It is not the knowing, 
but the doing which is the principal thing." 



89 



Materials for the Instruction of 
High School Grades 

Pupils 15 to 19 years old. 

The College Outlook 



91 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 



Lesson IX MATERIALS FOR THE INSTRUCTION 
OF HIGH SCHOOL GRADES 

The aim of this Lesson is to analyze the mental, 
moral and spiritual characteristics of the period of life 
between the ages of 15 and 19 years, designated as 
adolescence and constituting the High School Age. 
On the basis of this analysis the materials for instruc- 
tion in Judaism are to be selected and arranged with 
due regard to the physical and psychical conditions 
under which the instruction is to be imparted. Sug- 
gestions are also appended for readings and studies 
after the High School period, by which the matured 
adult may secure the advanced or "College Outlook" 
on the field of Jewish knowledge. 

The mass of information collated through the 
researches conducted by Dr. J. Stanley Hall and oth- 
ers, in his important work on "Adolescence," has 
afforded a deep insight into this period of develop- 
ment. It is now better known and understood than 
heretofore that this period is the most critical in life. 
The youth passes from boyhood or girlhood into young 
manhood or womanhood. The process of adjustment 
is the most difficult, trying and dangerous of life. 
Physically there is the budding and blossoming of the 
sex-consciousness, with all the fascinations and the 
dangers of an intense emotionalism. In the mental 
processes the co-ordination of the faculties of percep- 
tion, imagination, memory and reasoning is progress- 
ing under the gradual development of the powers of 
reflection. On the moral side of our nature the emo- 
tions and the will are more and more subjected to 
the control of judgment. A true or false judgment. 

93 



Aim of the 
Lesson 



The Period o 
Adolescence 



The Place of 
Rebgion in 



THB NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

a worthy or ignoble impulse may make or mar the 
whole future career. The spirit is profoundly sus- 
ceptible to the inspirations of lofty idealism, but also 
most easily swayed by the temptations and weaknesses 
that assail on every side. Environment, companion- 
ships, friendships, the influence of strong personali- 
ties, — these are far more determining for good or evil 
than at any other time, and far outweigh the dead letter 
of the book. Ambition stirs. The choice of a life's 
career impends. This is the period in which character 
is being definitely moulded, convictions settled and 
conduct determined for all the future. 



These facts weigh heavily upon all those who as 
Adolescence parents, educators and ministers are concerned with 

the right rearing of a new generation. Their solici- 
tude is deepened by reason of the fact that while the 
rigors of the "old education" have been relaxed, the 
power of the "new education" demanded by the 
changed conditions of present-day life, has not yet 
become thoroughly effective. Smartness, forwardness 
and license is manifest in the disrespect for law and 
authority which breeds the spirit of "hoodlumism" in 
High Schools, students' strikes and "rushes" in Col- 
leges. It is kindred to the deplorable juvenile delin- 
quency which has called into being our Juvenile 
Courts and is multiplying our reformatories. 

The remedy, it is conceded, is not to be found 
in a return to the harsh and brutalizing modes of dis- 
cipline which are summarized in the ancient maxim : 
"Spare the rod and spoil the child." Such methods 
yield only resentment and rebelliousness. The real 
remedy, it is admitted, lies in deepening and vitalizing 
our religious instruction. The supreme factor in the 
development of firm, sturdy and dependable character 

94 



THE NBW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

(the whole history of mankind proves) is religion. 
Yet the religious school is the step-child of our edu- 
cational system. It must be content with the crumbs 
of time and attention the secular schools deign to leave. 
We train our young men and women for culture, for 
vocations, for success at moneymaking, rather than 
for character. All other studies are ranked of superior 
importance, those of religion stand last. All other 
schools are richly equipped and organized on the most 
approved pedagogical principles. Our religious schools 
must be correlated properly with the secular schools. 
(See p. 105.) 

It is the conviction of such men as Dr. Hall that conflrmation 
the period of adolescence, above all others, must be 
dignified and sustained by the influences of every 
available religious agency. He commends in strongest 
terms such ceremonials as our Bar Mitzvah, and espe- 
cially Confirmation, as it prevails in our Synagogues. At 
about the fifteenth year our pupils are most susceptible 
to the influences of this solemn and beautiful public 
ceremonial. Earlier in life boys and girls are not yet 
ripe for the intellectual side of the preparation. Later 
in life they have passed the age when the deepest im- 
pression may be wrought on their spiritual natures. 
It cannot be claimed that Confirmation is effective in 
every instance to fortify and determine character for 
life. In many instances it is vitiated by superficiality 
and display. However, unfortunately, it is also true 
that the marriage ceremony does not always consecrate 
the home, nor do the solemnities of the burial service 
always touch the soul and chasten the spirit. The fact 
that these religious acts are none the less generally 
so powerful in influencing life for ennoblement is the 
test of their value. For this reason also Confirmation 
is to be eagerly seized upon as one of the most helpful 

95 



THE NBW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

factors in the religious education of the adolescent. 
Let it be understood also that it is not to be a mere 
bit of sentimentalism, a fever of emotionalism. Re- 
ligion to the Jew is an inheritance. Confirmation does 
not mean "joining the Church," although it may well 
be the occasion for a formal association with the 
organized religious life of the Synagogue by enroll- 
ment in the lists of those who contribute money, time 
or service. "Confirmation" is a function of religious 
education by which we signalize the attainment on the 
part of the individual youth to that period of life when 
mentally, morally and spiritually, he enters upon the 
obligations and duties of an Israelite. It is like a 
formal "initiation," with all the dignity and impressive- 
ness by which such an event should be attended. It 
is an act by which we would hallow the knowledge 
acquired and confirm the life by consecrating it to the 
high principles imparted. 

Materials for As the term Confirmation indicates, the purpose 

Religious of the definite instruction assigned to this class is to 
Instruction (deepen and confirm the knowledge of religion hereto- 
fore attained. To this end, it is well to review, as a 
whole, the courses of Religion and Ethics pursued 
successively in the Junior and Senior grades. It is 
inevitable, as it is also advantageous, that the class- 
room discussions during such a review, take on some- 
what the nature of a study of comparative religions. 
Prof. Morris Jastrow, in his book, "The Study of 
Religion," strongly recommends this method as of 
supreme value in deepening the influence of one's own 
religion upon himself, while also making for a recog- 
nition of the excellencies of other religions, and so 
enhancing the appreciation of religion in general. 

96 



THB NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

Moreover, the necessity is imposed upon Jews, 
who live in the midst of the followers of other faiths, 
to justify their differing from the prevailing religion. 
High School pupils, in their daily classes, and in the 
general literature they read, are constantly confronted 
with these differences. They are frequently put on the 
defensive by their associates, and even by their teach- 
ers. They demand and need an equipment for such 
occasions, as well as a firm and fixed basis of convic- 
tion for themselves, apart from the necessities of de- 
fense. For these purposes the teacher will find avail- 
able materials in such works as : 

"Synagogue and Church," by Paul Goodman. 
Routledge, London. 

"Pharisaism," by R. Travers Hexford. Putnam, 
N. Y. 

Dr. Israel Abraham's book and Dr. Solomon 
Shechter's book, on the same subject (in press). 

"The Jewish Sources of the Sermon on the 
Mount," by Gerald Friedlander. 

"Outlines of Liberal Judaism," by Claude Monte- 
fiore. 

Also articles in the Jewish Encyclopedia and 
Hastings Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics. A 
number of books are cited to admit of the selection of 
any that may be available. 

In the discussion of other religions the polemical 
attitude must be rigorously excluded. Adolescence 
is most prone to be an age of bigotry when prejudices 
become rooted for life. It is only necessary to justify 
Judaism. This does not imply antagonism to those 
who differ, but affords an opportunity to inculcate that 
respect for differences which we ourselves demand. 

97 



THE NBW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

The To deepen and confirm in the pupil the principles 

Prayer Book ^^^^^ doctrincs of the Jcwish faith it is best to go for 
the materials of instruction to the Prayer Book. In 
the historic liturgy, however modified in present-day 
use, is to be found the soul of Judaism. Here all the 
sentiments, experiences and convictions of the soul- 
life of all the generations of the past, live and throb 
in the outpourings of worship. Each country, nay. 
each community or congregation may have its own 
Tefillah or Prayer Book; each may follow a varied 
Minhag (ritual custom), each may have its own inter- 
pretations, yet all Israel is one at heart in worship. It 
is well to read the Prayer Book for Sabbath and Fes- 
tivals, explaining the customs, practices and principles 
in each service. This can be done only cursorily, leav- 
ing for advanced students a study of the history of 
the liturgy and an analysis of the doctrines. What is 
wanted at this time is const»-uctive work and affirma- 
tive instruction. The pupils are to read a certain por- 
tion for each class session and should be urged to 
present in writing whatever obscurities may need elu- 
cidation. As far as time and previous preparation 
allow this reading should be done in Hebrew. The 
Advanced Course in Hebrew, according to the Chau- 
tauqua system of Jewish Education should be followed 
for drill in Hebrew prose composition and syntax. It 
is expected that a thorough drill in the Hebrew texts 
of the Ten Commandments and their translation shall 
constitute a part of the preparation for the Confirma- 
tion. This service is usually and most appropriately 
held on Shabuoth, the Feast of Weeks, the traditional 
day for commemorating the "Giving of the Law." 

The ceremonials for Confirmation are to be found 
in various manuals or will be arranged by each Rabbi 
according to his own conceptions. 

98 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

Young men and women of High School age are ®°"*^ ^^'^^^^^ 
more eager to do things than merely to hear about 
them. The zeal for activity must be utilized also i:i 
religious training. Possessed of more knowledge and 
increasing capabilities than those in the grades belov/ 
them, the pupils of the Confirmation and Post-Con- 
firmation classes should be made to feel the honor and 
responsibility of leadership in the school. Every op- 
portunity should be accorded to the members of these 
classes to do things for the school. Such an oppor- 
tunity is offered during the Assembly when each in 
turn may act as leader of the divine services. At 
school entertainments they should be entrusted with 
the privileges and responsibilities of the arrangement, 
management and conduct of affairs under the direction 
of the teacher or other adult in charge. Doing for 
others must enter more largely into the activities of 
this than of the previous periods. Heretofore Social 
Service has been limited mainly to the contribution 
from week to week of a gift to the school fund to be 
devoted to some worthy cause of charity. These gifts 
may well be directed primarily to the promotion of 
institutions and movements to benefit children, e. g., 
orphans homes, day nurseries, shelters, children's 
hospitals, summer outings, playgrounds and the like. 
In addition to their gifts of money the pupils of High 
School age and onward should be enlisted in giving 
the gift of themselves — their time, talent and effort to 
some share in the work of uplift, conducted by these 
institutions and organizations. It is of greatest im- 
portance that our young men and women be made 
acquainted with and secure the necessary training and 
practice which shall quicken their zeal and qualify 
them for the share they are to take in advanced life 
in the great work of philanthropy, education and re- 

99 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

ligion. Let it be brought home to their attention that 
these are the works of applied religion in which the 
ideals of the school and the synagogue should be 
actualized. Social service is to be a part of the activi- 
ties of all the succeeding years. 

Jewish The survey of Post-Biblical history begun in the 

History Senior II or Pre-Confirmation class should be com- 
pleted in the Confirmation class. Pupils of High 
School age should be able to proceed more rapidly than 
heretofore. The materials have been brought within 
their range of appreciation and admirably collated in 
the correspondence School Course VII-B. (See Cur- 
riculum, p. 123.) 

Post Con- The most glaring defect of our Jewish Educa- 

flrmation ^Jonal Curriculum has been the sudden break follow- 
ing Confirmation. This ceremony has been too often 
treated as though it were the ''Commencement Exer- 
cises" of the Religious School. Pupils have been dis- 
missed with certificates and have been given the im 
pression that their religious education had been con- 
cluded. The fact is that the impressionable period 
of the Confirmation age rapidly passes into the ripen- 
ing of early manhood and womanhood. Of all times 
this is the most vital. The stay and support of religion 
is then most needed. The broadening mental horizon 
and the expanded range of experiences yield ten thou- 
sand questionings, temptations and doubts heretofore 
unknown. It is at this time that the guiding counsel, 
the friendship and help of the teacher of religion is 
most vital. Yet our schools have made but little pro- 
vision for this need. The glaring deficiency is only 
beginning to be supplied through Post Confirmation 
Classes. The best of these, it must be confessed, are 
far from being adequate. Their leaders are often in 

100 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RHLIGION. 

despair as they see the members drift away and note 
the indifference to Jewish subjects at this time which 
so often marks the attitude of pupils and their parents. 
To counteract these deplorable conditions the follow- 
ing suggestions are offered: The whole attitude of 
mind may be changed, both on the part of the parents 
and the young men and women once the school offers 
a "High School Course" and it is realized that the 
Confirmation Class is but the Freshman and not the 
graduating year. We have been sending our youth 
away with an elementary and grammar school knowl- 
edge of Judaism. Let us insist on providing them 
with a more advanced equipment for the great struggle 
of life which confronts them. True the High Schools 
do not enroll all the Grammar School pupils. Like- 
wise we may not expect all our pupils to enter the 
advanced classes, but once the courses are provided 
we shall develop the taste, the desire and ambition in 
a goodly number. It must be clearly noted that we 
are facing a condition, not a theory. Large numbers 
of our young men and women are drafted into the 
industrial and commercial world at this time of life 
and lose their grip on school and all it represents. 
Those continuing at school work find their energies 
taxed to the utmost. The enchantments of social life 
are also now opened up to our young men and women. 
Against these fascinations all serious endeavors are 
apt to be foiled, except with the earnest-minded few. 
There is, however, no cause to despair. Let us provide 
for the earnest-minded few. Let us wait with patience 
the passing of the temporary era in which the allure- 
ments of the great world shall have yielded to the 
stress of sobering responsibilities. After young peo- 
ple are mated and have founded their homes, the re- 
ligious need which has been something mainly im- 

101 



THB NBW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 



Methods 

and 

Materials 

for Post 

Conflrm- 

ation 

Classes 



Jewish 
Characters 
in English 

Fiction 



pressed from without becomes an inner, vital, personal 
reality. This is especially true when children come 
into the home and the grave responsibilities of child- 
training confront young parents. Then they return 
to their alma mater looking for light and aid. To them 
the opportunities of the Religious High School and the 
college outlook on life should be offered. Their High 
School Course has been merely postponed. 

It has been found advisable to recognize the dis- 
taste of young people of this age for class-room re- 
strictions to which they are continuously subjected. It 
is therefore well to organize them as a Circle rather 
than as a class. This step may best be taken before the 
Confirmation class as such disbands. The election of 
officers and the drill in parliamentary proceedings are 
most valuable and attractive. Wide latitude should be 
permitted to the Program Committee. General musi- 
cal and literary exercise give stimulus to the talents 
of individual members. Frequent formal debates are 
serviceable, both in holding the interest of large num- 
bers and in stimulating the participants to earnest re- 
search, the benefit of which accrues to all their hearers. 
To meet this need the Jewish Chautauqua Society has 
published several "Debate Syllabi" on "Current Top- 
ics," with Bibliography. Live questions of Jewish in- 
terest are suggested, such as the Origin and Elimina- 
tion of Prejudice, Immigration, Intermarriage, etc. 
These may be supplemented by others of civic, patri- 
otic, historic, sociologic and communal interest. 

Instead of formal historical instruction, excellent 
materials for essays, discussions and readings are 
offered in the Jewish Chautauqua Course book on 
"Jewish Characters in English Fiction." This course 
is exceedingly attractive. It seizes upon the passion 

102 . 



THB NBW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

for fictitious literature among the young. It is sym- 
pathetic with the romantic sentiments which now 
awaken. It impels the reader to take up some of the 
masterpieces of the English drama and the novel. 
Selecting those in which Jewish characters are de- 
picted, such as Rebecca, in Ivanhoe ; Shylock, Tancred, 
and Daniel Deronda, the Course-book maps out the 
materials for practical use in circle work, so as to ex- 
pose the caricatures of fiction and reveal the true char- 
acter of the Jew of history. By this means a deep 
interest is awakened in further studies of the great 
unfolding drama of Jewish life in which we ourselves 
are participants. The Jewish Chautauqua outlines of 
suggested programs on American Jewish History now 
offer themselves as timely and interesting materials 
for the third year of this period. 

The materials suggested above are designed for The Last mgh 
the second and third years following the Confirmation school Year 
class. By the time the fourth year is reached our 
young men and women are well on past the difficulties 
of adolescence, and are entering into maturity. They 
are now prepared to go back to Bible study from the 
adult's point of view. In the eclectic method required 
by school conditions, much of the Bible material has 
been necessarily deferred for this period, and many 
interesting topics now await consideration. To this 
end the Chautauqua Course of Jewish Education has 
made provision in its general survey : 

I. The Open Bible, a syllabus or course-book, 
by Rabbi Henry Berkowitz, Chancellor of the Jewish 
Chautauqua, Part I. Fourteen lessons. Genesis to 
Solomon, inclusive. 

103 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RHLIGION. 

2. The Open Bible II. Continuation of the 
above; lessons XV to XXXII, Division of the King- 
dom to close of Bible. 

study of -^ systematic presentation of Judaism for the gen- 

judaism eral reader is of supreme value at this period. Such 
a popular presentation is offered in the following 
Course- Book of the Jewish Chautauqua Society: 

The Jewish Religion, by Rev. Morris Joseph, of 
London. A succinct presentation of the precepts and 
practices of Judaism as they are held by modern Jews 
Twenty lessons. 

This may be supplemented with articles from the 
Jewish Encyclopedia, the reading of Mr. Israel Abra- 
ham's concise monograph entitled "Judaism" and 
issued in the series on "Religions Ancient and Mod- 
ern," also "Studies in Judaism," by Dr. S. Schechter, 
issued by the Jewish Publication Society. 

Hebrew It is hoped that in every community provision 

will be made for a continuous study of the Hebrew 
language after Confirmation. Until that time the 
study of the sacred tongue has been limited to prep- 
aration for its uses in prayer. Henceforward its cul- 
tural uses should be encouraged and a knowledge of 
the great and important literature it enshrines should 
be fostered. A reaction towards such an appreciation 
of Hebrew has set in. This will be accelerated when 
the claim of Hebrew, alongside of other classical lan- 
guages, is pressed upon the educational authorities. 
Columbia University now gives credits to students who 
present satisfactory evidences of their knowledge of 
Hebrew equal with Greek or Latin. Other universi- 
ties will no doubt accord the same. There is no rea- 
son why the High Schools also should not offer simi- 
lar encouragement. This would remove one of the 

104 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

most serious obstacles at present deterring our youth 
from recognizing the value and following up the study 
of our precious Hebrew heriiage. Such credits ex- 
tended to this and all the studies in the Schools of Re- 
ligion and Ethics would dignify these studies in tlie 
minds of teachers and students as well. The tremen- 
dous force of our great public educational system could 
be brought to bear, to provide thus a real solution to 
the vexatious problem that threatens to undermine the 
democratic and non-ecclesiastical character of oui 
public schools. By this means the effort to make Bible 
readings and sectarian exercises in the public schools 
obligatory could be overcome. 

For work in Hebrew during the period under con- 
sideration the following is suggested: The completion 
of the advanced course of the Chautauqua System of 
Jewish Education; Reading of easy prose narrative 
selections from Ruth ; Genesis xli, the story of Joseph ; 
I Samuel i. 

We have now concluded our work on the Curricu- The coiiego 
lum of the Religious School. A definite graded course outlook 
of instruction has been provided from the Primary 
through the High School grades. For those who may 
be tempted to seek the fuller and larger outlook of 
the College course, opportunity is offered either for 
individual readers or groups forming Chautauqua 
Circles, Young Men's Hebrew Association Classes., 
Study Circles of the Council of Jewish Women, Tem- 
ple Sisterhoods and the like. Courses in the Hebrew 
Prophets and in Special Books of the Bible are in 
preparation. Other courses in continuous Hebrew 
study will be mapped out on application. 

For readers of Post Biblical History the follow- 
ing course books are available: 

105 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

Jewish History and Literature (Post-Biblical) 
Course book No. i, by Prof. Richard J. H. Gottheil, 
of Columbia University. Covering the period from 
the return of the Jews from Babylon to the beginning 
of the Christian Era. Sixteen lessons. 

Jewish History and Literature, (Post-Biblical) 
Course book No. ii, by Prof. Gottheil. Covering the 
period from the origin of Christianity to the comple- 
tion of the Talmud. Sixteen lessons. 

Jewish History and Literature, (Post-Biblical) 
Course book No. Ill, by Prof. Gottheil. The brilliant 
era of Spanish-Jewish History. Sixteen lessons. 

Jewish History and Literature, (Post-Biblical) 
Course Book No. IV, by Dr. M. H. Harris. The 
Middle Ages to the "Expulsion of the Jews from 
Spain " Sixteen lessons. 

To this series others are to be added to bring the 
course down to our days. Special courses in Hebrew 
Literature onthe Jewish classics are also contemplated. 

RESUME 

The qualities of the Period of Adolescence are 
analyzed. It is the most critical and decisive period of 
life. The importance of religion in this period of 
adjustment is now recognized more clearly than ever 
before. The value of such a religious act as Confirma- 
tion is presented and emphasized. The appropriate 
materials for instruction are set forth. Social service 
or applied religion becomes a valuable part of the 
training. 

Work for High School grades succeeding the Con- 
firmation is strongly urged. Practical plans for meet- 
ing inherent difficulties are worked out, and the ma- 

106 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION: 

terials to be used are offered for Circle work covering 
three years. 

The last High School year marks the entrance into 
the age of maturity. A survey of the Bible and of 
Judaism from the adult's viewpoint becomes appro- 
priate. 

After the High School age the "college outlook" 
may be secured by the general readers through the 
advanced reading courses provided. 

QUESTIONS 

1. State your views about Bar Mitzvah and Con- 
firmation. 

2. Why is a High School Course needed in our 
Religious Schools? 

3. Define "Social Service" and indicate its place 
in the Curriculum. 

4. Contrast the last High School year with the 
first, in religious education. 

5. What is meant by the "College Outlook" on 
Jewish knowledge and discuss its value. 



107 



The Curriculum 



109 



THE NBIV BDUCATION IN RELIGION. 



Lesson X THE CURRICULUM 

The subjoined Curriculum contains the entire 
series of study courses of the Correspondence School 
conducted by the Jewish Chautauqua Society. On the 
basis of the principles and plans set forth in Course I, 
the Lessons have been worked out by the members of 
the Faculty of that school in the various subjects as- 
signed to them. These Lessons are available for all 
who enroll as students in the Correspondence School. 
The Lessons are intended for Teachers in our schools, 
for those desiring to qualify themselves to become 
teachers ; also for parents and any other persons who 
may feel prompted to pursue this interesting field of 
study. Furthermore, there are also added the Read- 
ing Courses published by the Jewish Chautauqua So- 
ciety and intended for "the general reader." The 
whole series thus provides a guide for Jewish studies 
'from childhood through adult life. 



Ill 



THE NBW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

Course I-A 

THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION : 
CURRICULUM 

1. The General Plan. 

2. Individuality in Pupils. 

3. Individuality in Pupils (Continued). 

4. Personality in Teaching. 

5. Materials for the Instruction of Primary Grades. 

6. Materials for the Instruction of Intermediate 

Grades. 

7. Materials for the Instruction of Junior Grades. 

8. Materials for the Instruction of Senior Grades. 

9. Materials for the Instruction of High School 

Grades. The College Outlook. 

10. The Curriculum. 



112 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

Course I-B 

ORGANIZATION AND CONDUCT OF A RELIGIOUS 
SCHOOL. 

1. Planning a School. 

2. The School Plant and Its Equipment. 

3. The School Officials and the Teaching Staff. 

4. Grading the Pupils. 

5. The School in Action. 

6. School Management. 

7. The School Spirit. 



113 



THB NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

Course II 
PEDAGOGY APPLIED TO RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION 

1. Introduction — The Aim of Religious Education. 

2. Attention. 

3. Perception. 

4. Memory and Imagination. 

5. Conception, Judgment and Reason. 

6. The Emotions. 

7. The Will. 

8. The Method of the Recitation. 

9. The Purposes of the Recitation. 
10. The Art of Questioning. 



114 



THE NEW BDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

Course III-A 
PRIMARY GRADES— FIRST YEAR 

1. Foreword. 

2. Foreword (Continued). 

3. Creation — Light. 

4. Creation — Order. 

5. Garden of Eden. 

6. Family Life. 

7. Cain and Abel. 

8. Noah. 

9. Noah (Continued). 

10. Abraham. 

11. Abraham and Lot. 

12. Abraham and Isaac. 

13. The Sabbath. 

14. Thanksgiving Day. 

15. liannukah. 

16. Hannukah (Continued). 

17. Afterword. 



115 



THE NEW BDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

Course III-B 
PRIMARY GRADES — SECOND YEAR 

1. Foreword. 

2. Buying the Birthright. 

3. SteaHng the Blessing. 

4. Life of Jacob — A Wonderful Dream. 

5. Life of Jacob — Life with Laban. 

6. Life of Joseph — Joseph the Boy. 

7. Life of Joseph — From Prison to Palace. 

8. Life of Joseph — Joseph the Man. 

9. Life of Moses — Saved from the Nile. 

10. Life of Moses — The Burning Bush. 

11. Life of Moses — Slavery and Deliverance. 

12. The Seder Service. 

13. Life of Esther — An Orphan Girl made Queen. 

14. Life of Esther — Mordecai's Triumph and Ha- 

man's Defeat. 

15. Life of Esther — Purira. 

16. Teaching Prayers and Psalms. 

17. Teaching the Commandments. 

18. Afterword. 



116 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RBLIGION. 

Course IV-A 

INTERMEDIATE GRADE LESSONS IN 
BIBLICAL HISTORY 

1. General Introduction. 

2. Birth and Youth of Moses, 

3. Moses in Midian, 

4. Moses in Egypt. 

5. The Exodus, Passover. 

6. Discontent — Marah, Mannah and the Quails; The 

Graves of Lust. 

7. The Fight with Amalek — Faith, the Source of 

Courage. 

8. The Visit of Jethro — Willingness to Learn, 

9. Sinai — The Decalogue — Shebuoth. 

10. The Golden Calf, Doubt and Sin. 

11. The Tabernacle. 

12. Rebellion — Nadab and Abihu, Korah, Aaron and 

Miriam, 

13. The Spies. 

14. The Desert Wanderings — Death of Aaron; Suc- 

coth, 

15. Balaam, Son of Beor. 

16. Reuben, Gad and half Menasseh; East Jordanic 

Conquests. 

17. Nebo. 

18. Joshua, Crossing the Jordan. 

19. Conquest. 

20. Possession. 

117 



THE NEW BDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

Course IV-B 

INTERMEDIATE GRADE LESSONS IN 
BIBLICAL HISTORY 

1. Deborah. 

2. Gideon. 

3. Jephtah and Samson. 

4. Story of Ruth. 

5. Hannah and Samuel. 

6. Saul Anointed. 

7. Jonathan saves David. 

8. David and Goliath. 

9. David before Saul. 

10. David and Jonathan. 

11. David Spares Saul's Life. 

12. David and Abigail. 

13. Death of Saul and Jonathan. 

14. David as King — Hebron and Jerusalem. 

15. Bath Sheba — Nathan the Prophet. 

16. Absalom. 

17. Death of David; Estimate of His Character. 

18. Solomon becomes King. 

19. Building of the Temple. 

20. Solomon's Reign, Glory and Weakness. 

21. Death of Solomon; Review. 

118 



THE NEW BDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

Course IV-C-D 

Junior Grades, Lessons in Biblical History. 

THE HEBREW PROPHETS 



1. General Introduction. 

2. Moses as Prophet. 

3. Samuel the Seer. 

4. Nathan, Gad and Ahijah. 

5. The Division of the Kingdom to Ahab, King of 

Israel. Elijah. 

6. The Dynasty of Jehu. Elisha and the Prophetic 

Schools. 

7. Political Conditions. Amos, the Shepherd of 

Tekoah. 

8. Hosea. 

9. Review of Kingdom of Judah to Hezekiah. Down- 

fall of Israel. Isaiah before the Exile. 

10. Micah. 

11. Review: Judah and Reformation. Nahum. 

12. Zephaniah. 

13. Habakkuk. 

14. Review : Last Days of Kingdom of Judah. Jere- 

miah. 

15. Prophecy and the Exile. 

16. Ezekiel, Priest and Prophet. 

17. Obadiah. 

18. Isaiah, after the Exile. 

19. Haggai. 

20. Zechariah. 

21. Malachi. 

22. Joel. 

23. Jonah. 

24. Daniel. 

119 



THB NBW EDUCATION IN RBLIGION. 

Course V 

For Junior and Senior Classes. 

THE JEWISH RELIGION 

1. Introduction. 

2. The Sabbath. 

3. Jewish Calendar. 

4. Passover. 

5. Feast of Weeks. 

6. Feast of Tabernacles. 

7. New Year. 

8. Day of Atonement. 

9. Minor Feasts — Hannukah, Purim. 

10. Minor Fasts. 

11. Synagogue and School. 

12. Public Worship. 

13. Public Worship, Continued. 

14. Private Devotion and Home Ceremonies. 

15. Symbols. 

16. Dietary Laws. 

17. The Jewish Faith — God and Man. 

18. Sources of the Jewish Faith — Revelation, Bible. 

19. Sources of the Jewish Faith — Tradition. 

20. Rewards and Punishments. 

21. The Messianic Ideal. 

120 



THB NEW EDUCATION IN RBLIGION. 

Course VI 
JEWISH ETHICS 

HOME DUTIES— Junior I. 

1. Foreword for the Parent and Teacher. 

2. Duties to Parents. 

7. Duties to Brothers and Sisters. 

11. Duties to Guests and Servants. 

SCHOOL DUTIES— Junior II. 

3. Duties to the Teacher. 

8. Duties to Classmates. 

12. Duties to Our School and Other Schools. 

COMMUNAL DUTIES— Senior I. 

4. Duties to the Dependent. 

9. Duties to the Defective and Delinquent. 

13. Duties to Lower Animals. 

CIVIC DUTIES— Senior II. 

5. Duties to Our Neighborhood. 
10. Duties to City and State. 

14. Duties to Country and Other Countries. 

RELIGIOUS DUTIES— Senior II— Continued. 

6. Duties to Our Congregation. 

15. Duties to Judaism and Other Religions. 

16. Duties to Mankind. 

121 



THB NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

Course VI I- A 

MATERIALS FOR TEACHING POST BIBLICAL 
HISTORY AND LITERATURE 

Senior Grade. 

1. Value of a Study of the Religious Life of the Jew. 

2. Pupils and Some of Their Needs. 

3. Ezra and Nehemiah. 

4. Ezra and Nehemiah (Continued). 

5. The Macabees. 

6. Hasmonean Dynasty. 

7. Herod the Great and Hillel the Gentle. 

8. Philo and the Jews of Egypt. 

9. The End of the Jewish State. 

10. Jesus of Nazareth and the Origin of Christianity. 

11. Jochanan ben Zakkai. 

12. The Patriarachte. 

13. Bar Kochba and Akiba. 



122 



THE NBW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

Course VII-B 

MATERIALS FOR TEACHING POST BIBLICAL 
HISTORY AND LITERATURE 

Senior Grade. 

14. Judah the Prince and The Mishna. 

15. Some Famous Palestinean Rabbis. 

16. The Two Talmuds. 

17. The Jews in Babylonia and the Exilarchate. 

18. The Rise of Islam. 

19. Karaism and Saadiah. 

20. Political Life of the Jews in Spain. 

21. The Poets — Liturgical. 

22. The Poets, — Secular. 

23. The Philosophers. 

24. Bible Studies. 

25. The Crusades. 

26. Mediaeval Jewish Persecutions. 

27. Life under the Crescent. 

28. Expulsion from Spain — The Dark Ages. 

29. Sabbatai Zebi and Spinoza. 

30. Mendelssohn and Solomon Maimon. 

32. Internal Reformation. 

33. The Counter Reformation. j 

34. Anti-Semitism and Zionism. 

35. The Jew in America. 

123 



THE NBW BDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

Course VIII-A and B 

METHODS OF TEACHING HEBREW 
FOR SELF-INSTRUCTION 



A — Elementary — 51 Lessons with Notes and Vocabu- 
lary. A complete course to insure facility in 
Hebrew reading and familiarity with the Pray- 
ers of the Hebrew Ritual. 

B — Advanced (18) Lessons, with Explanatory Notes 
and Exercises, being a complete course in 
Hebrew Grammar and Composition. Corre- 
spondence Method. 



124 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

Course IX 
HISTORY OF JEWISH EDUCATION 

1. Introduction. 

2. The Biblical Era. 

3. The Rabbinical Era. 

4. The Modern Era. 



125 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

FACULTY OF 

CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL 

OF THE JEWISH CHAUTAUQUA SOCIETY 

DEAN OF THE FACULTY, WILLIAM ROSE- 
NAU, Ph. D., Rabbi, Congregation Oheb Shalom. 
Associate Semitic Department, Johns Hopkins 
University, Baltimore, Md. 

HENRY BERKOWITZ, D. D., Rabbi, Congregation 
Rodeph Shalom, Philadelphia, Pa. 

DAVID E. WEGLEIN, M. A.. Principal Western 
Pligh School, Baltimore, Md. Teacher Oheb 
Shalom Congregational School, Baltimore, Md. 

ABRAM SIMON, Ph. D., Rabbi, Washington Hebrew 
Congregation, Washington, D. C. 

EDWARD N. CALISCH, Ph. D., Rabbi, Congrega- 
tion Beth Ahaba, Richmond, Va. 

MARTIN A. MEYER, Ph. D., Rabbi, Temple Eman- 
uel, San Francisco, Cal. Lecturer Semitic De- 
partment, University of California. 

MISS ELLA JACOBS, Principal Warner School, 
Philadelphia, Principal Primary Department, Ro- 
deph Shalom School, Philadelphia, Pa. 

EUGENE H. LEHMAN, B. A., Instructor Yale Uni- 
versity, New Haven, Conn. 

JULIUS H. GREENSTONE, Ph. D., Professor Gratz 
College, Philadelphia, Pa. 

WILLIAM FINESCHREIBER, Rabbi, Congregation 
Children of Israel, Memphis, Tenn. 

126 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

COURSES OF STUDY 

The following are the Courses of Study : 

I. A. The New Education in Religion, Curric- 
ulum — Henry Berkowitz, D. D. 

B. Organization and Conduct of the Relig- 
ious School — Henry Berkowitz, D. D., 
and Miss Corinne B. Arnold. 

II. Pedagogy as Applied to Religious Instruction 
— Mr. David E. Weglein. 

III. Methods of Teaching the Primary Grades. 

Course A and Course B — Miss Ella 
Jacobs. 

IV. Methods of Teaching Biblical History in Jun- 

ior and Senior Grades. 

A. Moses to Joshua — Edward N. Calisch, 

Ph. D. 

B. Judges to Solomon — Edward N. Calisch, 

Ph. D. 

C. and D. The Prophets— Rabbi William 

Fineschreiber. 
V. Methods of Teaching Religion in Junior and 
Senior Grades — Julius H. Greenstone, 
Ph. D. 

VI. Methods of Teaching Jewish Ethics — Our 
Daily Duties — Lessons I to X, by 
Miss Julia Richman (deceased). Les- 
sons XI to XVIII— Mr. Eugene H. 
I^ehman. 

127 



THE NEW EDUCATION IN RELIGION. 

VII. Methods of Teaching Post-Bobhcal History 
and Literature — Martin A. Meyer, 
Ph. D. 

VIII. Jewish Chautauqua Hebrew Course, A — Ele- 
mentary, B — Advanced. Gerson B. 
Levi, Ph. D. 

IX. History of Jewish Education — Abram Simon, 
Ph. D., William Rosenau, Ph. D. 

For free prospectus, address the Jewish Chautau- 
qua Society, 1400 Jefferson street, Philadelphia, Pa., 
U. S. A. 



128 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS • 

019 605 991 A 





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